TODAYS ISSUE:

3SECTIONS, 26PAGES
P25
METRO MANILA,
PHILIPPINES
S1/1-12
www.bworldonline.com
Philex may drill
alone in
disputed waters
A UNIT of Philex Petroleum Corp.
plans to start drilling two more
wells in disputed waters in the
South China Sea even without a
partner and despite rising ten-
sions with Beijing, its chairman
said on Wednesday.
London-listed Forum Energy
Plc will likely start drilling the ap-
praisal wells in its Sampaguita gas
eld in the Reed Bank, which the
Philippines calls Recto Bank, in
early 2016, said Philex Petroleum
chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.
That means the rm will seek
another extension of a drilling
permit for the area from the Phil-
ippine government. Its current
permit expires in August 2015.
Yes, that is our intention, Mr.
Pangilinan said in a text message,
when asked if the company would
conduct oil and gas exploration
alone and start drilling by 2016.
Thats the plan of Philex Pe-
troleum, subject to Philippine
government approval, he said.
And of course, we do not know
how China would react.
The territorial row between the
Philippines and China has blocked
Forums plan to drill more wells
under Service Contract 72 explo-
ration permit awarded to it by the
Philippines in 2010. Reuters
Growth, S1/2
Growth seen to have slowed
ECONOMIC GROWTH in the
country is expected to have slowed
further to just 6% in the opening
quarter of the year, mainly due
to the impact of typhoon Yolanda
(international name: Haiyan)
on several sectors, Hong Kong
and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd.
(HSBC) yesterday said.
In a report, the bank said while
growth still managed to come in
at a faster-than-expected 6.5% in
the fourth quarter despite the ty-
phoon bringing full-year expan-
sion to an above-target 7.2% this
year could be a diferent story.
Growth is expected to slow
in the first quarter of 2014 on
weaker agriculture output due to
the impact of Typhoon Haiyan,
said HSBC. Already, short-term
supply shocks are still affecting
food and housing costs, stoking
headline ination.
The Philippine Statistics Au-
thority (PSA) reported last week
that farm production edged up by
a nearly at 0.67% in the rst three
months of the year, a performance
traced to damage from typhoons
that stuck the country in 2013.
By Bettina Faye V. Roc
Senior Reporter
Farm output for the entire 2014 is
ofcially targeted at 3.5-4.5%. Last
quarters results compare with
3.3% and 1.13% expansion rates
recorded a year ago and in the pre-
ceding quarter, respectively. The
sector ended last year with 1.15%
growth, slower than 2012s 2.89%
and missing a 4.3-5.3% goal under
the Philippine Development Plan.
Meanwhile, inflation acceler-
ated anew to 4.1% in April from
3.9% in March, bringing year-to-
date average to 4.1%, PSA reported
earlier this month.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pili-
pinas (BSP) expects the annual

Competitiveness, S1/2
Keeping up appearances
Philippine ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before the opening ceremony
of the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confdence Building Measures in Asia summit in Shanghai, May 21.
REUTERS
Philippines slips
in competitiveness
THE PHILIPPINES fell in an an-
nual global competitiveness rank-
ing of the International Institute
for Management Development
(IMD), reversing last years gains
amid a slowdown in exports, mut-
ed stock market performance, in-
adequate infrastructure, and high-
prole corruption cases.
The country placed 42
nd
out of
60 economies in the 2014 World
Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY),
four places down from 38
th
out
of 60 last year. The report as-
sessed economic performance,
government efficiency, business
efficiency and infrastructure of
the economies surveyed, using
economic data from international
and national sources, as well as
an opinion survey in generating
over 300 criteria to measure the
competitiveness of economies.
By Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag
Reporter
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014
Resorts next
in taxmens sights
WITH SUMMER season just about
to end, the Finance department
has turned up the heat on resorts
across the country, examining
compliance of popular establish-
ments as part of an ongoing cam-
paign against tax evasion.
In its latest Tax Watch adver-
tisement published in a newspa-
per yesterday, the department
asked: Do your favorite resorts
declare their income taxes?
The ad published a list of
popular resorts all over the coun-
try which it said was culled
from various Web sites, namely
Its More Fun in the Philippines,
Trip Advisor, Wayph.com, tourism.
gov.ph, and Wego.com.ph along
with Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR) data on these establish-
ments 2012 income tax declara-
tions and gross income.
Highlighted in the ad were re-
sorts that did not fle income tax
returns, had no records with the
BIR, and those who fled returns
but declared zero income tax due
that year.
The Finance department said
three popular resort establish-
ments did not fle any income tax
returns in 2012: Costa Carina
Beach Front and Kangaroo Beach
Resort both registered as tax-
payers with the BIRs Tuguegarao
City revenue district offce and
Sangat Island Dive Resort in
Puerto Prinsesa City.
Meanwhile, The Hollywood
Palm Beach Resort in Calapan
City had no 2012 record with the
BIR.
Two resorts also declared gross
sales of over P1 million that year
yet claimed to have no income
tax dues, the ad showed. These
were the El Masfno Country Club,
Inc. in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, which
had gross sales of P1.203 million
in 2012; and Catanauan Cove in
Gumaca, Quezon, which had gross
sales amounting to P1.14 million.
Among the resorts in the ad,
the biggest taxpayer was Aman-
pulo Resort in Puerto Prinsesa
City, which paid P13.3 million in
income taxes and had gross sales
of P545.195 million.
A far second was Camayan
Beach Resort in Subic Bay Free-
port Zone which declared tax due
of P4.56 million in 2012 and had
gross sales of P461.47 million.
There were only two other
resorts that declared dues of over
P1 million in 2012, the ad likewise
showed: The Manor at Camp John
Hay in Baguio City (P1.9 million)
and Dimakya Island, Club Paradise
Resort in Puerto Prinsesa City
(P1.14 million).
Tax Watch is an ongoing cam-
paign by the Finance department
where weekly ads containing tax
collection statistics are released.
The BIR is the governments
main revenue agency, account-
ing for about 70% of collections.
It is tasked to collect a total of
P1.456 trillion in taxes this year.
Bettina Faye V. Roc
Country still expected to lead region
THE PHILIPPINES is expected
to be the regions growth leader
over the next two decades, with a
United States-based consultancy
rm saying the economy could
grow by an average of 4.8% a year
in that period.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd
(Deloitte Global) said in its report
on the Philippines, titled Com-
petitiveness: Catching the Next
Wave, released yesterday that it
expects Philippine growth to aver-
age 4.8% from 2014 to 2033, out-
stripping Southeast Asians 4.5%
average.
This very favorable growth
outlook assumes that the govern-
ment continues on its path of
reforms to improve confidence
in the business sector, that regula-
tions regarding foreign ownership Lead, S1/2
are relaxed, and that government
transparency improves. It also as-
sumes that infrastructure spend-
ing rises from its 2012 level of just
2.7% of GDP, the report added.
The economy grew by 7.2% last
year, faster than 2012s 6.8% and
well above the 6-7% goal. First-
quarter GDP data is scheduled to
be announced on May 29.
This year, Deloitte Global said,
Philippine economic growth
should remain rm at 6.3%
Deloitte Asia Pacific chief ex-
ecutive ofcer Chaly Mah said in
a statement accompanying the re-
port: Compared to other regions
that have experienced slower
economics, the Philippines story
is quite remarkable There are
great opportunities if the Phil-
ippine government can seize them
SECTION 1
2&6 THE ECONOMY
4-5 OPINION
7 AGRIBUSINESS
8 CORPORATE NEWS
9 PROPERTY
10 THE WORLD
11-12 THE NATION
SECTION 2
1&3 BANKING & FINANCE
2 STOCK MARKET
4-5 WORLD SPORTS
6 BULLETINS
7-8 ARTS & LEISURE
9-10 SPECIAL FEATURE
SECTION 3
1-2 FINANCIAL TIMES
3 WORLD BUSINESS
4 WORLD MARKETS
CONTENTS VOL. XXVII, ISSUE 207
The president and I
shared deep concerns
over the current
extremely dangerous
situation.
Vietnam Premier
Nguyen Tan Dung
S1/8
THE ECONOMY
Bids sought
for upgrade
S1/6
BANKING & FINANCE
P10-billion bond
sale approved
S2/1 Olive oil lowers
blood pressure
S2/8
WORLD REVIEW
DETROIT
GM recalls more vehicles
General Motors Co. (GM) said on
Tuesday it is recalling another 2.6
million vehicles globally, raising the
number of vehicles it has recalled so
far this year to almost 15.4 million. The
four recalls are the latest announced
by the largest US automaker, the
highest prole of which is the recall of
cars with defective ignition switches
linked to at least 13 deaths. S3/3
LONDON
AstraZenecas decision questioned
Some leading AstraZeneca Plc.
shareholders were at odds over whether
the British drug maker made the right
decision in rejecting Pzer, Inc.s nal
$118-billion bid to buy the company.
Schroder Investment Management
Ltd., AstraZenecas 12
th
biggest
shareholder, urged the drug maker
on Tuesday to restart takeover talks
with Pzer while Fidelity Worldwide
Investment (UK) Ltd., holder of the
18
th
largest stake in Astra, backed the
British companys stance. S3/3
MONTERREY
Cemex seeks investment grade
Mexican cement maker Cemex will
seek to regain its investment-grade
rating lost in 2009 after a debt-fueled
acquisition spree, the companys
new Chairman Rogelio Zambrano
Lozano said. Mr. Zambrano Lozano
said the companys vision and strategy
would remain much the same under
its new management. S3/3
5050
5120
5190
5260
5330
5400
4850
4960
5070
5180
5290
5400

STOCK MARKET
ASIAN MARKETS MAY 21, 2014
JAPAN (NIKKEI 225) 14042.17 -33.08 -0.24
HONG KONG (HANG SENG) 22836.52 1.84 0.01
TAIWAN (WEIGHTED) 8862.42 -25.37 -0.29
THAILAND (SET INDEX) 1403.69 9 0.65
S.KOREA (KSE COMPOSITE) 2008.33 -2.93 -0.15
SINGAPORE (STRAITS TIMES) 3261.78 -3.69 -0.11
SYDNEY (ALL ORDINARIES) 5424.57 4.21 0.08
MALAYSIA (KLSE COMPOSITE) 1877.03 -4.13 -0.22
JAPAN (YEN) 100.97 101.31
HONG KONG (HK DOLLAR) 7.752 7.752
TAIWAN (NT DOLLAR) 30.173 30.17
THAILAND (BAHT) 32.450 32.55
S. KOREA (WON) 1026.850 1025
SINGAPORE (DOLLAR) 1.252 1.252
INDONESIA (RUPIAH) 11505 11485
MALAYSIA (RINGGIT) 3.213 3.218
WORLD MARKETS MAY 20, 2014
WORLDCURRENCIES MAY 21, 2014
ASIAN CURRENCIES MAY 21, 2014
PESO DOLLAR RATE
DOW JONES 16374.310 -137.55
NASDAQ 4096.891 -28.924
S&P 500 1872.830 -12.25
FTSE 100 6802.000 -42.55
EURO STOXX50 3002.9 -10.27
$/UK POUND 1.6885 1.683
$/EURO 1.3702 1.3692
$/AUST DOLLAR 0.9239 0.9268
CANADA DOLLAR/US$ 1.0901 1.0881
SWISS FRANC/US$ 0.8914 0.8924

30 DAYS TO MAY 21, 2014
INDEX
30 DAYS TO MAY 21, 2014
OPEN: 6,885.88
HIGH: 6,885.88
LOW: 6,759.49
CLOSE: 6,762.38
VOL.: 2.026 B
VAL(P): 9.062 B
FX
OPEN P43.800
HIGH P43.750
LOW P43.830
CLOSE P43.780
W. AVE. P43.792
VOL. 575.00 M
LATEST BID
0900GMT PREVIOUS
CLOSE NET %
CLOSE NET
CLOSE PREVIOUS
120.35 PTS.
1.75%
COMPOSITE

WEIGHTED AVE.
6.4
CTVS.
to fuel growth and become one
of the most competitive nations in
the region.
Mr. Mah urged the government
to relax foreign ownership restric-
tions to further attract foreign
direct investment and increase
efciency through higher levels of
competition.
Additionally the government
should look to public-private part-
nerships to help speed investment
spending on infrastructure, re-
duce bottlenecks, and implement
policies that promote inclusive
economic growth, he added.
The report went on to note
that the Philippines is less vulner-
able to external risks than many
emerging market economies. The
nations large current-account
surplus, now running at about 4%
of GDP, and high foreign exchange
reserves should help shield the
economy from the adverse impact
of further monetary tightening
the so-called tapering in
the United States, which has led
to large capital outows in some
emerging economies, Deloitte
Global said in the report.
In addition, the Philippine
budget decit is set to stay below
2% [of GDP] throughout the next
20 years, the consultancy firm
added.
Deloitte Global said the manu-
facturing and construction sectors
are key to developing further the
Philippine economy as these lead
to higher economic productivity.
The strong growth in global
manufacturing to 2033 will drive
world growth, and this presents
the Philippines with great poten-
tial to integrate into the global
supply chain of high-value manu-
facturing, said Gary Coleman,
managing director, Global Clients
and Industries, Deloitte Global.
If the government makes
smart investments in infrastruc-
ture including roads and har-
bors that would help to boost
the construction and transpor-
tation sectors and lead to higher
productivity growth in the coming
years as well.
Apart from manufacturing and
construction, other areas seen to
drive Philippine economic growth
are transportation and logistics,
information and communications,
and business process outsourcing
(BPO).
[T]he longer-term outlook de-
pends fundamentally on the gov-
ernments ability to implement
policies that improve the business
climate, the report read.
It urged the government to
reduce bribery and corruption
through more transparent pro-
curement process, civil servant
training, and instituting reporting
and enforcement mechanisms.
Deloitte which provides au-
dit, tax, consulting, and nancial
advisory services to public and
private clients spanning multiple
industries is present in more
than 150 countries.
KEY TO THE BOTTOM LINE
Another observer urged the
Philippines anew to develop its
manufacturing sector in order to
help alleviate poverty and unem-
ployment, as well as attract more
investments by opening up the
economy and improving the local
business climate.
Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacic chief
economist for Colorado-based
consultancy IHS, said that to make
growth in the country more inclu-
sive, the government must create
more opportunities for Filipinos.
The problem for the Philip-
pines is that, for many years, its
been an economy dependent on
workers going abroad and send-
ing remittances workers going
abroad because there arent any
opportunities in the country, Mr.
Biswas said.
He cited several reform areas
the government needs to continue
working on in order to create more
jobs here, and, in turn, increase
the economys productivity.
First, Mr. Biswas said, the busi-
ness climate should be made even
more conducive for investors. If
you look at the Philippines rank-
ing in the ease of doing business,
its way down. There are key bar-
riers to business and the govern-
ment should look at that in detail,
see which areas its lagging in, and
reduce timeframes by efficient
administration. Thats the way to
improve climate, he explained.
The government should like-
wise work with foreign firms to
make them feel theyre welcome.
Infrastructure also you
need power infrastructure, trade,
ports, airports There is a lot
that can be done and that needs
to be done. If theres real effort
to start upgrading infrastructure
in the next three to four years, it
can really make a diference, the
economist said.
One key area for development
is manufacturing, said Mr. Biswas.
If you look at the Philippines
IT-BPO sector, its a great success.
It put the Philippines on the map
globally, he noted. Now, you
need to capitalize on the opportu-
nity for low-cost manufacturing.
He said rising labor costs in
China present an opportunity for
other economies to become new
manufacturing hubs. The com-
petitive landscape is changing. In
China, wages are going up very
fast, so the cost for multinational
companies there is too high now.
These people want to nd another
place to build low-cost factories,
Mr. Biswas noted. But why are
they not coming here? Its because
of these things People want an ef-
cient administration; they need
power, roads, airports all these
things are part of the equation
I think there could be huge FDIs
(foreign direct investments) in the
Philippines into manufacturing,
and that will create jobs.
Foreign ownership restrictions,
he added, should also be eased to
attract big capital investments.
It can be staged by sequencing
liberalization you dont have
to suddenly open up everything
but you really need to open up
the economy for investment in
manufacturing, Mr Biswas said.
Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag and
Bettina Faye V. Roc
Lead,
fromS1/ 1
Competitiveness,
fromS1/ 1
The Philippines declined in all
four key dimensions: six places
to 37
th
in economic performance,
nine spots to 40
th
in government
efficiency, six notches to 27
th
in
business efciency, and two places
to 59
th
in infrastructure.
In a technical note accompany-
ing the report, IMD said while the
Philippine economy expanded by
7.2% last year the second fastest
among economies surveyed and
upgrades from credit ratings agen-
cies were clinched, export growth
was less impressive and stock
markets cooled signicantly after
a hot streak in 2012. Poor infra-
structure, a looming power crisis,
and allegations of corruption in-
volving high-level public ofcials
that began last year also dented
perceptions of government and
business efficiency, the Switzer-
land-based business school added.
Still, IMD cited positive signs
that may elicit cautious opti-
mism towards the Philippines.
For one, the three percentage
point decrease in poverty inci-
dence in 2013 compared to the
previous year may be a sign that
several years of strong economic
growth may finally be affecting
the poor, IMD said in its report.
Another bright spot is invest-
ments, which grew by an annual
average of 11.3% in the last four
years after growing by an annual
average of just 3.5% in the decade
before that, it noted.
With improving outlook from
credit-rating agencies and con-
fidence from foreign investors,
investments are expected to con-
tinue to improve in the coming
years.
Citing inputs from local part-
ner the Asian Institute of Man-
agement Policy Center, the same
report cited challenges the Philip-
pines faces this year, namely: in
infrastructure, many roads are
unpaved, public transportation
is inefficient, and the primary
airport is operating beyond ca-
pacity; regarding corruption,
improvements in governance are
being made but [there is] still a
long way to go; unemployment
and underemployment rates are
one of the highest in Southeast
Asia; an undeveloped nancial sys-
tem that makes access to nance
one of the biggest challenges
facing small- and medium-sized
firms; and natural disasters like
the storms, rains and earthquake
that caused major damage last
year.
Many other emerging markets
saw rankings fall this year such as
China (21
st
to 23
rd
), India (40
th
to
44
th
), and Thailand (27
th
to 29
th
).
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia,
Malaysia and Indonesia moved
up, from 15
th
to 12
th
and 39
th
to 37
th
,
respectively.
Globally, the United States
topped the list, followed by Swit-
zerland for the second year in a
row. They were followed by Sin-
gapore, Hong Kong, Sweden, Ger-
many, Canada, the United Arab
Emirates, Denmark, and Norway.
Venezuela placed last, followed
by Croatia, Argentina, Greece,
Bulgaria, Slovenia, Brazil, Jordan,
South Africa and Colombia.
WCY is among eight competi-
tiveness reports monitored by
government. The Philippines has
notched gains in Heritage Foun-
dations 2014 Index of Economic
Freedom (97
th
to 89
th
out of 178),
the World Economic Forums
Global Enabling Trade Report
2014 (72
nd
to 64
th
out of 138) and
Global Information Technology
Report 2014 (86
th
to 78
th
out of 148).
rise in consumer prices to average
4.3% this year and 3.4% next year.
The central banks target rang-
es for 2014 and 2015 are at 3-5%
and 2-4%, respectively.
HSBC said while the pending
hike in power prices has been de-
layed further, electricity rates are
still expected to rise and will have
an impact on ination.
A potential increase of rail
prices will also add another blow
We expect headline inflation to
be at the midpoint of the BSPs
3-5% target range in the coming
months, causing the central bank
to be vigilant, it noted.
Slower net capital inows are
also a concern This means that
while improved global demand
will support export growth, im-
port costs will dampen GDP (gross
domestic product) growth rates by
dragging down net export growth.
The government is scheduled
to report official first-quarter
GDP data on Thursday next
week.
HSBC likewise expects GDP
growth to come in at 6% this quar-
ter before slowing to 5.7% in the
third quarter and picking up to
6.1% by yearend, for a full-year
forecast of 5.9%. Next year, the
bank sees the economy expanding
by a slightly faster 6.1%.
The government targets GDP
to grow 6.5-7.5% this year and
7-8% in 2015.
Growth,
fromS1/ 1
Thursday, May 22, 2014 2/S1
The
Economy
DENR,
UNDP launch
$4.5-million
grant project
THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
ofcially rolled out a $4.5-million Philippines-
specic fth phase of a grant-making project.
The program, known as the Fifth Opera-
tional Phase of the Global Environment Facil-
ity (GEF) Small Grants Programme, or SGP-5,
is mainly focused on conserving biodiversity
through grassroots initiatives.
Speaking at the programs official launch
at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria hotel in
Quezon City yesterday, UNDP Country Direc-
tor Maurice Dewulf said that the $4.5-million
funding for SGP-5 is almost triple the previous
budget of $1.8-million for SGP-4 implemented
in 2008, and will be nanced by an allocation
from the Philippine government.
We see effective models of biodiversity
management at community levels and by the
communities, and we want these models com-
municated to other communities and the whole
world so that we can replicate best practices,
Mr. Dewulf said in a statement yesterday.
He added that the funding hike for SGP-5
was due to increasing demand from local
communities.
Mr. Dewulf said that the SGP-5 is specic
to the Philippines, unlike previous phases that
were implemented in the country as part of a
global program.
A handout at the event listed three aims for
SGP-5:
improving sustainability of protected ar-
eas through community-based monitoring;
mainstream conservation and sustainable
use of produce-bearing land and sea areas; and
increasing partner organizations assess-
ment capacity.
The government held a soft launch for SGP-
5 in June 2013 and began accepting grant appli-
cations. The DENR Biodiversity Management
Bureau is implementing the project until July
2017.
Project proposals under the SGP-5 must be
submitted before July 15 and will be screened
by the National Steering Committee, which
includes nine non-government organizations
and meets voluntarily every quarter.
Proposed project sites, meanwhile, may be
anywhere in the country, but especially in Pala-
wan, Samar, and the Sierra Madre mountains
in Luzon.
The SGP supports resource management
initiatives by giving grants of up to $50,000
to non-government organizations (NGOs),
people organizations, and other community-
based groups.
The grants are for projects aimed at what
the GEF and UNDP call focal areas, such as
protecting biodiversity, climate change mitiga-
tion and adaptation, and sustainable forest
management. Anton Joshua M. Santos
TWO lawmakers are seeking P1 billion to improve
structures in the Kalayaan Group of Islands, Pala-
wan, purportedly to protect the country and pro-
mote tourism.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez
and Party-list Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.
(Abante Mindanao) fled House Bill (HB) 4167,
which proposes an appropriation of P1 billion to
build a harbor and berthing facilities, as well as to
repair the Rancudo airfeld.
In order to strengthen our claim and protect
our sovereignty, we need to build more structures
and fortify our defense of these islands, particular-
ly the construction of a safe harbor as well as the
repair of the Rancudo airfeld on Pag-asa Island.
Aside from solidifying our claim, the construction
of structures in the Kalayaan Islands would also
improve the tourism industry there, the authors of
the bill said in a statement yesterday.
On several instances, Chinese gunboats even
confscated fshing nets of the Filipino fshermen,
and the increasing Chinese intrusions and their
illegal occupation of Mischief Reef are already
alarming to the countrys security, the authors of
the bill said in the bills explanatory note.
If the bill is passed, the P1 billion will be pro-
vided for in the General Appropriations Act.
The proposed law would require an annual re-
port on the allocation of the fund to be submitted
to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Kalayaan Group of Islands, also known
as the Spratly Islands, currently has a popula-
tion of 300 to 400 people, with one barangay
and a 1.3-kilometer airstrip used by the military.
J.P. Miranda
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S1/3
Air talks yield fights to Myanmar
Bill fled to fund
structures
on Kalayaan
islands
TRAVELERS may soon enjoy three di-
rect ights daily to and from Myanmar,
following the conclusion of air service
talks on Tuesday.
The Phi l i ppi nes and Myanmar
signed a memorandum of understand-
ing on air services on Tuesday for
nearly 4,000 seats per week, accord-
ing to the Civil Aeronautics Board
(CAB).
CAB Executive Director Carmelo A.
Arcilla said in a text message yesterday
that the agreement allows designated
airlines of each country a total of 3,780
seats per week or about three ights per
day between Manila and points in Myan-
mar (which has three international air-
ports).
Earlier this month, local carriers
Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines
expressed interest in flying to Myan-
mar.
The Philippine air panel and its
Myanmar counterpart also agreed on
unlimited traffic flights between all
points in Myanmar and the Philippines,
except Manila, said Mr. Arcilla.
Other than unlimited traffic flights,
Mr. Arcilla added that the Philip-
pines and Myanmar agreed to update
and modernize the current air services
agreement between the two countries,
which was originally signed in [July]
1979.
Mr. Arcilla has said that the old ac-
cords have restrictive provisions on ca-
pacity and route structures.
Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla, legal and
procurement undersecretary of the De-
partment of Transportation and Com-
munications, told BusinessWorld yester-
day: Myanmar is a country with great
potential and [is] rapidly developing. It
needs a lot of things, from infrastructure
to even legal reforms and regulatory
structuring.
Asked what potential the government
saw in Myanmar, Mr. Arcilla replied:
Myanmar is a rapidly growing economy
of about 60 million people, with a po-
tential for the development of direct
connectivity with the Philippines.
Air talks with Canada, which will be
held May 27-28, aim to increase ights to
North America given the large Filipino
population residing there.
The Philippines will also hold nego-
tiations with South Africa, which, along
with Ethiopia, was said to have pushed
for talks.
This year, the Philippines has, so
far, concluded successful air talks with
Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore and
France. Chrisee Jalyssa V. Dela Paz
AFTER the second world war,
many Asian countries had to un-
dergo a series of nation-building
exercises. Almost all of themwere
torn apart by war: buildings de-
stroyed and lives extinguished. It
took strength, courage and cre-
ativity to restore these nations
to their former glory and, most
importantly, rebuild them bet-
ter than they were before. Citi-
zens came together for a common
cause, toonce againhave a place to
call home.
After years of isolation, Myan-
mar has re-engaged withthe inter-
national community. A new civil-
ian government came to power
and quickly rolled out a series of
reforms. International communi-
ties have taken an active role in
rebuilding Myanmar. I have also
seen armies of expats returning to
Myanmar, eager to restore their
country to greatness.
I really believe Myanmar can
become a nation to be reckoned
with. For a brief moment after it
claimed independence from the
British in 1947, it was a modern
nation in South-East Asia. It had
the best universities, airports and
cities. Through a series of misfor-
tunes, however, it became one of
the least developed nations in the
world. Recent developments have
given me hope that we can real-
ize our Myanmar Dream, which
includes inclusivity, harmony and
freedomfor all Myanmar people.
Myanmar nationals should be
able to benet fromthis transfor-
mation and development; inclu-
siveness is an essential element
of my Myanmar Dream. We need
to ensure everyone has access to
basic nancial services, for exam-
ple. We will build a nation where
people are united together as the
people of Myanmar, regardless
of their ethnici-
ties. We are one
people under one
nation; united regardless of our
religion, ethnicity and gender. We
will need to ensure that we put
aside our slight differences and
rebuild our nationina formof uto-
pia that we have long dreamed of.
I believe there is a need for har-
mony in developing our country.
We should seriously consider not
destroying our national heritage
and natural resources. We must
leave a lasting legacy for our chil-
dren and grandchildren. We must
learn to build our future without
destroying our past. Myanmar is
blessed with an abundance of nat-
ural resources, but we must pro-
tect the environment for the sake
of future generations. Developing
a proper nation-building strategy,
which strikes a balance between
modernizing and preserving our
heritage, will be tough, but I be-
lieve we can achieve it.
Most importantly, I believe
we must be free to chart our own
destiny. The people of Myanmar
should have the right to deter-
mine what is best for them. People
should be allowed to follow their
dreams no matter how preposter-
ous they seem to others. All of us
dreamof same thing: the freedom
to pursue our own happiness.
There is no diference between a
little boy who grew up in the hilly
regions of Upper Myanmar and
a little girl who
grew up a rich
nei ghborhood
in Yangon City. I believe we can
create a nationthat provides equal
opportunities for everyone.
In order to realize our Myan-
mar Dream, we must focus on
three things: 1.) capacity build-
ing, 2.) foreign direct investment
and 3.) national reconciliations.
We need to improve education
so that we will have capable peo-
ple to lead our nation. In terms
of technical expertise, we need
to improve in all sectors. Most
importantly, we need to install
a strong sense of patriotism and
nationalism. The most impor-
tant asset a country can count
on is its people; we need to equip
them with the right skill sets and
attitude.
Next, we need foreigndirect in-
vestment (FDI). Myanmar needs
to put together a strategy to make
sure we encourage socially re-
sponsible investors whose activi-
ties are beneficial to our people.
FDI needs to help us develop
sustainably, building our capac-
ity while preserving our environ-
ment. Only thenwill we be making
Myanmar a better place for future
generations.
Most importantly, national
reconciliation must take place. In
order to move forward, we must
come together and put aside our
diferences, no matter what they
are. I strongly believe we will have
real and lasting peace in Myanmar
very shortly.
Following the recent positive
developments in Myanmar, we
need to maintain our momentum
in order to realize our Myanmar
Dream. The stars have been much
aligned lately: the new civilian
government has taken over, the
opposition party is running for
elections, and our ethnic leaders
are taking part in discussions for
peace.
I hope that everyone around
the world will take a moment
to pray for Myanmar so that we
might achieve prosperity, as your
countries have. Thank you. And
may God bless Myanmar.
(The author is Chairman of
Kanbawza Bank Limited, Myan-
mar. This piece was especially writ-
ten for the World Economic Forum
which is being held in Manila on
May 21-23.)
Thursday, May 22, 2014 4/S1 Opinion
The remains of the day
Myanmar dream
Inadequate response
IN THE JUNGLE, American nov-
elist Upton Sinclair wrote about
the inferno of exploitation of
the factory worker in the meat-
packing industry. The workplace
was lthy, squalid, and vile. Labor-
ers coughed constantly and spit
blood, but were ignored. Assembly
lines were intentionally sped upto
squeeze more production for the
same pay. Workers often lost their
ngers in the process. Almost all
were cheated by not being paid af-
ter working for a substantial frac-
tion of an hour.
Workers who fell into tanks
were ground along with animal
parts. Meat for canning and pro-
cessing was piled on the oor and
carried off on carts also used to
transport sawdust, human spit
and urine, and dung. The novel
concluded with shouts of Orga-
nize! Organize! Organize!
Labor unions weredeveloped to
provide workers with a group that
could protect their jobs, wages and
health. This protection primarily
addresses business owners who
could not care less about worker
safety and health, be it intention-
ally or due to lapses. During the
Industrial Revolution, the num-
ber of unions grew as the need for
workers increased. At the height
of their inuence, united worker
groups swayed public policy and
government legislation.
In1999, the International Labor
Organization introduced the De-
cent WorkAgenda whichembodies
the principle of workers rights, so-
cial protection, employment pro-
motion, and social dialogue. Most
labor laws around the globe simi-
larly aim to promote labor rights,
welfare, and obligations through
worker membershipinunions.
In the United States, union
membership peaked at 35% of the
workforce in the 1950s and has
steadily declined since. In 2013, it
dropped to 11%.
Deindustrialization, a result
of globalization, has shrunk em-
ployment in the highly unionized
manufacturing sector. Although
rms in industrial zones are natu-
rally highly unionized, jobs are
continuously being outsourced to
cheaper foreign operations. This
strategy eliminates a lot of local
production jobs, affects wages,
and increases worker exploita-
tion. Technology-induced pro-
duction has signicantly reduced
the need for low-skilled labor. Ac-
companied by higher employment
growth in the service sector, dein-
dustrialization demands concep-
tual skills needed for non-routine
and non-repetitive tasks.
Traditionally, unions have
prospered by enhancing and
protecting the economic gains of
their members; i.e., the semi- and
unskilled workers. However, pres-
ent labor market exibility could
have already eroded the security
of these promised gains.
Data from the American So-
cial Survey (ASS) from 1978 to
2008 show that union members
are more likely to feel insecure
about their jobs than non-union
members. This is especially true
during recessions. This insecurity
extends to their future job pros-
pects and is doubly pronounced in
the manufacturing sector.
In contrast, another study re-
vealed that workers who are in-
secure about their current jobs
are more likely to join a union.
However, once displaced, these
workers have difficulty finding
a job with similar wages and...
benets.
Although perceived misman-
agement or unfair labor practices
could persuade workers to join a
union, these perceptions could, at
times, be encouraged by unions to
retain and increase membership.
In2013, researchers Gitlowand
Gitlow were candid about the role
of unions. According to them, by
toooftenprotectingnon-perform-
ing and incompetent workers,
unions have removed workers in-
centive and motivationtoimprove
themselves. And this frequently
causes excellent and competent
workers to experience feelings of
injustice and inequality.
In his novel The Remains of the
Day, Japanese-born British author
Kazuo Ishiguro wrote of the Eng-
lish butler Stevens. It is the 1950s,
DURING the World Economic
Forumfor East Asia, arguably the
grandest economic show in town
during President Aquinos four-
year watch, he and his economic
men are expected to boast of the
strong GDP growth in 2012 and
2013 and the recent S&P invest-
ment upgrade. The more discern-
ing foreign guests wont be fooled.
They know that more needs to be
done to sustain strong growth and
make it inclusive.
The foreign guests would know
the severity of the twin problems
of joblessness and poverty. They
would know the sad state of Phil-
ippine infrastructure experience.
They have nochoice. As they y in,
they would experience, rst hand,
the aging, dilapidated, and swel-
teringly uncomfortable Ninoy
Aquino International Airport.
The recently released results of
the IMD World Competitiveness
Yearbook 2014 suggest that the
two-year strong economic growth
might be losing steam. Compared
So, S1/ 5
Amago, S1/ 5
Diokno, S1/ 5 The Philippines, S1/ 5
AS DECISION makers descend
on Manila for this weeks World
Economic Forum(WEF) on East
Asia, concerns about slowing growthare boundtodampenthe sentiment.
However, delegates may wish to take heart fromthe extraordinary exam-
ple of the host nation.
The brightest star among Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) economies, the Philippines provides significant reasons for
being optimistic about the future of emerging Asia.
The mood among international businesses and investors continues to
turn more positive in favor of the Philippines as a destination for invest-
ment. In fact, the country stands out as one of the most improved on
WEFs measure of global competitiveness inrecent years.
Asabankthat hasbeendoingbusinessinthePhilippinessince1872, we
strongly echo the positive sentiment, which were also seeing among our
owninternational andPhilippine clients.
The recent perpetual bond issue by Philippine conglomerate San
Miguels power arm, drawing more than three times its ofer, with a nal
book value of $1 billion, is testament to the continued condence in the
investor community.
After GDPgrowthof 7.2%in2013despitethedevastating andlinger-
ing impact of the Bohol earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda last autumn
we expect the Philippines to growby another 6.7%this year, making it
one of the fastest-growing economies inAsia, after China.
In the past year, we have seen the Philippines become signicantly
more investor-friendly, helped by President Benigno Aquinos efforts
to improve the countrys economy and governance. As work continues
to boost investment, deepen capital markets and tackle corruption, we
believe the climate will improve further and help to generate more eco-
nomic growthandemployment.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to keep ination and interest
rates low, securing an environment in which business can ourish. And
remittances fromoverseas workers still a hugely important component
of the Philippine economy are expected to growat a faster pace of 8.5%
thisyear(upfrom8%in2013), whichwill underpindomesticconsumption.
The upgrade earlier this month by credit rating agency Standard &
Poors is a signicant achievement for the Philippines, coming only a
year after the country was upgraded to investment grade. It is a vote of
condence in the governments ability to manage the public nances and
improve the investment environment, and it means the Philippines is
nowratedhigher thancountries suchas Spain, Russia, Brazil andIndia.
Another strongly positive factor is that the Philippines has made great
strides in developing not only its service industries a primary driver of
Philippine growth in recent years but also its manufacturing sector,
whichexpandedby more than10%in2013.
Earlier this year, the Asian Development Bank launched its $1-bil-
lion Supply Chain Finance program, helping cash-strapped small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacic region to access
capital that can help themgrow. More than $800 million of transactions
are expected to be nanced in this way, most of them involving SMEs
supplying large companies, which will lend further support to Philippine
manufacturing.
In the important electronics industry, more companies are expected
to expand or open newplants in the Philippines this year. The country is
alsoexpectedtobuildonrapidgrowthinits business process outsourcing
sector, nowa major export for the Philippines.
The global recovery is set to boost foreign direct investment, with
potential for more investment coming from Japan and the US, histori-
cally big investors inthe country. At the same time withits large, skilled
and English-speaking workforce, the youngest in Asia the Philippines
couldbenet as higher labor costs inChina leadmore companies to move
productionto lower-cost economies inSoutheast Asia.
Infrastructure investment in particular ofers a massive opportunity
for international companies to play a role in the Philippine growth story,
through public-private partnership (PPP) projects. After a slow start,
the country had awarded seven PPP projects thus far, and the pipeline
is robust. We were proud recently to provide a funding facility to Bright
Future Educational Facilities, a winning bidder for the Department of
The Philippines
lights the way
in emerging Asia
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PROJECT
SYNDICATE
By Zakri Abdul Hamid
and Anantha Duraiappah
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S1/5 Opinion
Amago,
fromS1/ 4
Diokno,
fromS1/ 4
So,
fromS1/ 4
The Philippines,
fromS1/ 4
CORE
Benjamin E. Diokno
THE VIEW
FROM TAFT
Real C. So
A secret no more
The GDP, Well-being Gap
WITH THE overowing posts of
seles, groupies, tweets, shout-
outs and what-have-yous... it
seems that the world has adhered
to the culture of full disclosure.
With this trend, one cannot help
but ask... what should I keep se-
cret?
The US Congress enacted in
2010 the Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (FATCA) with the
aim of preventing off-shore tax
abuses by US taxpayers. Among
others, FATCA requires the online
registration of foreign financial
institutions (FFIs) with the US
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
and their reporting to the IRS of
information about financial ac-
counts by FFIs in which US tax-
payers hold a substantial owner-
ship interest.
On July 1, 2013, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued
Memorandum No. M-2013-030,
reminding BSP-supervised in-
stitutions to evaluate if they are
FFIs covered by FATCA. The same
entities were advised to study the
potential efects of FATCA to their
businesses and determine the
necessary steps to take to avoid
the unfavorable consequences
of non-compliance with FATCA
requirements. BSP-supervised
institutions, whohave determined
coverage by FATCA, were also en-
joined to establish a policy and
prepare their operating systems
which would enable them to cap-
ture and perform tagging of their
account holders subject of the
FATCA requirement.
Just recently, the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission
(SEC), through Memorandum
Circular No. 8 Series of 2014,
issued similar instructions to
non-bank financial institutions
(NBFIs). In addition, NBFIs are
required to disclose in their an-
nual and quarterly reports the
level of their compliance with
FATCA regulations, starting with
the quarter report ending March
31 this year that was due on or
before May 15. As it is, FATCA
compliance is required for both
banking and non-banking FFIs.
In both circulars, the covered
companies are cautioned to con-
sider the provisions of domestic
laws, including the LawonSecrecy
of Bank Deposits (LSBD) and, in-
cidentally, the Foreign Currency
Deposit Act (FCDA). Interesting-
ly, the aforementioned domestic
laws do not provide as an excep-
tion the compliance with FATCA,
considering that FATCA was just
enacted sometime in 2010 by the
United States Congress.
Ononehand, theLSBDprovides
that [a]ll deposits of whatever na-
ture withbanks or banking institu-
tions in the Philippines including
investments in bonds issued by
the Government of the Philip-
pines, its political subdivisions and
its instrumentalities, are hereby
considered as of an absolutely
confidential nature and may not
be examined, inquired or looked
into by any person, government
official, bureau or office, except
upon written permission of the
depositor xxx. [Section 2, Repub-
lic Act No. 1405, as amended.] The
term deposits under the LSBD
is to be understood broadly and
not limited only to accounts which
give rise to a creditor-debtor re-
lationship between the depositor
and the bank. It applies not only to
money which is deposited but also
to those which are invested. Thus,
trust accounts are deemedcovered
by the LSBD. [Ejercito v. Sandigan-
bayan, et al., G.R. No. 157294-95,
30 November 2006.]
On the other hand, the FCDA
states that [a]ll foreign currency
deposits are hereby declared as and
considered of an absolutely confi-
dential nature and, except upon the
writtenpermissionof the depositor,
innoinstanceshall foreigncurrency
deposits be examined, inquired
or looked into by any person, gov-
ernment official, bureau or office
whether judicial or administrative
or legislative, or any other entity
whether public or private. [Section
8, Republic Act No. 6426] The pro-
tection and incentives aforded un-
der theFCDAonlyextendtoforeign
currency deposits of foreignlenders
and investors and do not apply to
foreigncurrencydepositsof Filipino
depositors. [Estradav. Desierto, G.R.
No. 156160, 9December 2004.]
Notwithstanding the forego-
ing, it bears to note that the ab-
AMICUS
CURIAE
Bernardino T. Amago IV
solutely confidential nature of
bank deposits accepts exceptions
under other special laws. One such
exception is an inquiry made by
the Commissioner of the Bureau
of Internal Revenue (BIR) into
the foreign currency deposits and
other related information held by
nancial institutions of a specic
taxpayer or taxpayers subject of a
request for the supply of tax infor-
mation froma foreign tax author-
ity pursuant to an international
convention or agreement on tax
matters to which the Philippines
is a signatory or a party. [Section
3, Republic Act No. 10021] How-
ever, due consideration must be
given to the fact that the exemp-
tion only extends to the inquiry
made by the BIR itself and not by
the foreigntax authority, although
the request came from the latter.
Thus, compliance with FATCA
may not be justied under the said
exception.
But with the hefty imposition
of 30% withholding tax on pay-
ments of US-sourced income to
FFIs, in case of non-compliance,
it comes to fore that covered en-
tities uphold the enforcement
of FATCA. So, now it becomes a
balancing act of holding fast to
domestic laws and espousing the
FATCA regulations.
Nevertheless, while there is
no specific exemption to the bank
secrecy laws, it must be observed
that based on the afore-cited le-
gal provisions, consent in writ-
ing by the depositor is enough
clearance for the FFIs to divulge
information on the depositors
deposit account without conse-
quences. Accordingly, it is the
authors considered opinion that
more than ever, covered institu-
tions should secure the written
permission from their affected
clients to allow them to disclose
account information in adher-
ence to FATCA.
It would not come as a sur-
prise if FATCA regulations may
one day be recognized as an ad-
ditional item to the growing list
of exemptions to the secrecy of
bank deposits. After all, with the
administrative circulars calling
for its compliance, entities are left
with no other option.
So if you are a US taxpayer, you
might as well tag your foreign ac-
count deposit as a secret no more.
(The author is an Associate
of the Angara Abello Concepcion
Regala & Cruz Law Offices (AC-
CRALAW), Cebu Branch. He can
be contacted at (6332) 231-4223
or btamago@accralaw.com. The
views and opinions expressed inthis
article are those of the author. This
article is for general informational
and educational purposes only and
is not ofered as and does not consti-
tute legal advice or legal opinion.)
By Jaspal Bindra
OPINION
Educations project to build 10,000
newclassrooms across thecountry.
Perhaps the most exciting po-
tential both for the Philippines
and for ASEAN more widely
comes from increasing regional
trade. Almost one-fifth of Philip-
pine exports went to ASEAN in
2013.
The growing affluence of do-
mestic consumers along with
urbanization is a key driver of
intra-regional trade, which has
been growing strongly in recent
years, and helps to explain some
of the resilience of economies like
the Philippines, even in the face of
weakdemandfromexport markets
inthe West.
The Philippines may be the
regions brightest star, but it is
worth noting that most of the 10
ASEAN nations are expected to
record growth of more than 5%
this year, compared to 2.4% in the
US and 1.3%in the euro area. With
the recovery in the West now un-
derway, and just a year away from
the formation of the ASEAN Eco-
nomic Community a $2 trillion
trading bloc of more than 600 mil-
lion people we continue to see
great economic opportunity in the
Philippines and the region more
broadly.
Howbusinesses, banks, govern-
ments andregulators canmake the
most of this opportunity ensur-
ing it pays dividends in terms of
jobs andprosperityfor peopleright
across the region should be the
focus this week inManila.
(The writer is Group Executive
Director and CEO for Asia at Stan-
dard Chartered Bank.)
By Aung Ko Win
OPINION
and the place of butlers in British
society is long gone. The hall where
Stevens serves has become the
property of an American business-
man and he, the butler, is retained
as part of the package. The novel
endsinmelancholyasStevenspon-
ders upon the days ahead and pre-
tends that they wont come at all.
Most unfortunate is the fact that
some have found themselves stuck
longafter thejobrequires it.
(The author lectures on strate-
gic management, organizational
behavior, and management of or-
ganizations at the Management
and Organization Department of
the Ramon V. Del Rosario College
of Business of De La Salle Univer-
sity. He is also an entrepreneur
and a management consultant. He
coaches select clients on strategic
planning and marketing. Send
comments to realwalksonwater@
gmail.com. The views expressed
above are the authors and do not
necessarily reect the ofcial posi-
tion of DLSU, its faculty, and its
administrators.)
Country 2014 2013 Change
Singapore 3 5 +2
Malaysia 12 15 +3
Thailand 29 27 -2
Indonesia 37 39 +2
Philippines 42 38 -4
Economic Performance,
Government Effciency, Business
Effciency, Infrastructure
SOURCE: IMD WORLD COMPETITIVENESS YEARBOOK 2014
Overall Ranking
to its ASEAN-5 peers, the Philip-
pines ranked last, unchanged from
last year, but four notches lower.
Meanwhile, Singapore, Malaysia,
and Indonesia improved their
rankings by two, three, and two
notches, respectively.
On economic performance,
the Philippines ranking dur-
ing the last five years has been
erratic, though on a downward
trajectory. It was 34 in 2010, up
to 29 in 2011, worsened to 42 in
2012, up again to 31 in 2013, and
then sharply down to 37 in 2014.
In its latest ranking, Philippines
ranked miserably in interna-
tional trade: 55 in 2013 and 57
in 2014.
GOVERNMENT REFORMS
LOSING CREDIBILITY?
Reforms in government, or the
credibility of its reform program,
may be losing credibility too. The
Philippines ranking on govern-
ment efciency fell steeply to 40
in 2014, from 31 in 2013. It was
ranked 31 in 2010, 37 in 2011 and
then 32 in 2012. The weak institu-
tional framework and lack of busi-
ness legislation, including lack of
competition laws, weighed down
the rank heavily in 2014. The Phil-
ippines ranking with respect to
institutional framework dropped
from 33 in 2013 to 40 in 2014. As
a result of lack of business legis-
lation, the Philippines ranking
worsened from51 in 2013 to 54 in
2014.
On business efciency, after a
steady climb in ranking from2010
(32) to 2013 (19), the Philippines
ranking nosedived to 27 in 2014.
The sharp fall was attributed to
poor nance (from 26 in 2013 to
27 in2014) and management prac-
tices (from24 to 33).
On public infrastructure, the
Philippines ranking hit rock bot-
tom after several years of steady
deterioration: it was 56 in 2010, 57
in 2011, 55 in 2012, 57 in 2013, and
59 in 2014.
Compared to its ASEAN-5
neighbors, the state of public in-
frastructure in the Philippines is
pitiful. Yet, while the infrastruc-
ture gap is widening and the fund-
ing requirements are great, the
governments response has been
inadequate. The Aquino adminis-
tration failed to allocate enough
resources for infrastructure
spending; and what little resourc-
es that have been authorized by
Congress, it failed to spend fully.
In terms of infrastructure, the
Philippines was the only country
among its ASEAN-5 peers whose
rank was downgraded, from 57 in
2013 to 59 in 2014. Its score was
the lowest among its peers, and
the second lowest among the 60
countries that were included in
the 2014 IMD World Competitive-
ness study. Its score of 1.7 is puny
compared to Singapores 62.8 and
Malaysias 45.2.
GLIMMER OF HOPE
An unsolicited proposal coming
from Ramon Ang of San Miguel
provides a glimmer of hope for
nding a solution to the aging and
dilapidated Manila airport. The
proposal is to construct an airport
that would have four runways, 164
contact gates, and could accom-
modate more than 100 million
passengers per year. The plan is
impressive, massive and visionary.
The $10-billion airport prom-
ises to be a game changer: it will
change the Philippines economic
landscape in general and its state
of public infrastructure inparticu-
lar. It will lend credibility to the
governments programof promot-
ing tourism, one of the legs of the
strong, sustainable and inclusive
growth plan.
Is there reason to be hopeful?
Yes, if the Aquino III administra-
tion acts on the San Miguel air-
port proposal with a great sense
of urgency. No, if its business-as-
usual. Remember: to date, after
years of delay, vehicle owners are
still waiting for their registration
stickers and car plates. Only in the
Philippines!
(The author is a former Secre-
tary of Budget and Management.)
Country 2014 2013 Change
Score Rank Rank
Singapore 62.774 10 12 +2
Malaysia 45.229 25 25 0
Thailand 16.069 48 48 0
Indonesia 9.978 54 56 +2
Philippines 1.7 59 57 -2
SOURCE: IMD WORLD COMPETITIVENESS YEARBOOK 2014
Extent to which basic,
technological, scientifc
and human resources meet
the needs of business
Infrastructure
KUALA LUMPUR The link be-
tween economic growth and hu-
man well-being seems obvious.
Indeed, as measured by gross do-
mestic product (GDP), economic
growth is widely viewed as the
ultimate development objective.
But it is time to rethink this ap-
proach.
In fact, there is a rising dis-
connect between countries per
capita GDP and their citizens
wellbeing, as rapid output growth
exacerbates health challenges and
erodes environmental conditions.
Given this, people increasingly
value non-material wealth just as
highly as monetary wealth, if not
more.
But persuading policy makers
and politicians of GDPs limita-
tions is no easy feat. After all, it
is far simpler to defend a well-
understood, long-accepted frame-
work than it is to champion a new
world view.
To be sure, GDP provides valu-
able informationabout a countrys
production, expenditure, and in-
comestreams, as well as theowof
goods across borders. Moreover,
it has provided crucial guidance
to countries, helping them to
track economic gains that have
improved citizens quality of life
considerably in many cases lift-
ing themout of destitution.
But GDP fails to account for
changes in a countrys stock of as-
sets, making it difcult for policy
makers to balance economic, so-
cial, and environmental concerns.
Without better measures of well-
being including health, educa-
tion, and the state of the natural
environment policy makers
cannot gain the insights that they
need to ensure the long-term
health of the economy and the in-
dividuals who comprise it.
This imperative underpins the
concept of sustainable develop-
ment, which has gradually gained
acceptance since its introduc-
tion in the mid-1980s. But, even
as countries have recognized the
need for a more comprehensive
understanding of development,
they have largely retained GDP
growth as their central objective.
This has tochange. EvenUS-based
Nobel laureateSimonKuznets, the
Depression-era father of GDP, said
in 1934 that, the welfare of a na-
tion can scarcely be inferred from
a measure of national income.
The good news is that a robust,
simple, and effective framework
for measuring sustainability al-
ready exists. Developed by a group
of leading economists, including
the Nobel laureate Kenneth Ar-
row and Partha Dasgupta of the
University of Cambridge, it as-
sesses an economys income ows
in the context of its stocks of as-
sets, including human and natural
capital. Inother words, it accounts
for the economys productive
base, rather thanjust its monetary
wealth.
Based on this framework,
United Nations University and
the UNEnvironment Programun-
veiled theInclusiveWealthReport
(IWR) at the 2012 Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro. By providing a
long-term comparison between
GDP and inclusive wealth for 20
countries, the report aimed to mo-
tivatepolicymakers totakea more
comprehensive, longer-term view
of their economies development.
This November, a second IWR
will be released, with many more
countries represented and a
stronger focus on human capital
in national-account indicators. To
this end, collaborating experts will
convene in Malaysia this month
for a series of meetings, culminat-
ing ina public symposiumentitled
Beyond Gross Domestic Product
Transitioning into Sustainabil-
ity.
Transforming the worlds un-
derstanding of economic devel-
opment requires a dynamic ap-
proach. Experts in various fields
including economics, sociology,
psychology, and the natural sci-
ences must work together to
develop an integrated suite of
indicators that provides a com-
prehensive picture of humanitys
productivebase, onwhichpeoples
ability to pursue their interpre-
tation of success depends. While
final decisions should rest with
policy makers and citizens, the
process must be guided by the best
available science, uncompromised
by political demands or vested in-
terests.
Moreover, one fundamental
truth must be recognized: the
planet cannot accommodate
high-income status for all seven
billion of its inhabitants. For ev-
ery country to attain per capita
GDP of $13,000 (which, accord-
ing to the World Bank, delineates
high-income status), global GDP
would need to rise from roughly
$72 trillion today to $91 trillion.
If, however, we already use the
equivalent of 1.5 earths to provide
the resources we consume and to
absorb our waste, the planet can
sustainably support a GDP of only
$48-50 trillion.
And if the planet already ex-
ceeds its sustainable carrying ca-
pacity, we should be reducing our
demands on it not adding new
ones. Simply put, we can no lon-
ger depend on GDP growth, and
the limitless wealth accumulation
that it implies, to solve our social
and economic problems.
The world must align its value
systems with this reality. We must
learn to do more with less, de-
couple economic growth from re-
source consumption, and nurture
the social and spiritual aspects of
our existence.
This shift will be impossible
without fundamental changes to
our education systems, political
structures, and institutions. It is a
tall order, but our future depends
on fullling it.
(Zakri Abdul Hami d i s a
member of the UN Secretary-
Generals Scientific Advisory
Board, Science Adviser to the
Prime Minister of Malaysia, and
co-chair of MIGHT. Anantha
Duraiappah is Executive Direc-
tor of the International Human
Dimensions Program on Global
Environmental Change, hosted
by UN University in Bonn. www.
project-syndicate.org)
Interviewing a hero
HERO CAT Tara, held by owner Roger Triantaflo (R) is surrounded by news media
after throwing the ceremonial frst pitch at a baseball game in Bakersfeld,
California on May 20. Tara became a YouTube sensation after being caught on
video saving Triantaflos son from a dog attack.
REUTERS
Thursday, May 22, 2014 6/S1
By Imee Charlee C. Delvain
Reporter
MRT-3 systems upgrade bid out
New rules released
on importing US green veggies
Aquino urges ASEAN
Business Club to invest
in Philippines
Rural banks seen merging ahead of integration
BRIEFS
Tax incentives bills
HOUSE Committee on Ways and
Means Chairman Romero S. Quimbo
said yesterday that the consolidated
investments incentives bill may be
approved at the committee level in
three months. [The bill] should be
out of the committee by August,
Mr. Quimbo said in a text message
to BusinessWorld. He said that the
committee is still discussing the
provisions of the bill. Jacqueline
P. Miranda
Drilon welcomes WEF
SENATE President Franklin M. Drilon
said in a statement yesterday that
the countrys hosting of the World
Economic Forum on East Asia is an
opportunity to display the Philippines
economic success. This is our mo-
ment. This is our chance to show-
case our growth story, Mr. Drilon
said. He also described the WEF as
an auspicious venue to encourage
more investors to do business in our
country, expand trade activities and
attract more tourists. A.P. Galura
Non-regular workers
NON-REGULAR work in establish-
ments with more than 20 employees
made up less than a third of the
entire establishment workforce in
2012, according to the Phlippine
Statistics Authority - Bureau of Labor
and Employment Statistics. Citing its
2012 Labor Survey, PSA-BLES said
that 1.15 million workers or about
30% of the overall establishment
workforce were non-regular that year.
More than half or 600,764 of these
workers were contractual or project-
based employees. Probationary work-
ers made up 22.7% or 260,260, and
casual workers, 17.6% (202,472).
By industry, establishments in admin-
istrative and support service activi-
ties including business process
outsourcing employed the most
non-regular workers with 26% or
299,089. A.M. Monzon
The
Economy
TAXWISE
OR OTHERWISE
Maria Ysidra May Y. Kintanar
When good faith is not good enough
WHO among us has not heard of
the Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR) running after taxpayers who
have allegedly failed to pay their
correct taxes?
By now, most of us are aware
of the BIRs shame campaign, is-
suing Tax Watch advertisements
that draw the publics attention
towards what may be perceived
as deliberate non-compliance by
certain individuals or groups. For
instance, one of these advertise-
ments showed a doctor sitting on
the shoulders of a teacher, with
the slogan, When you dont pay
your taxes, youre a burden to
those who do. Other advertise-
ments are geared towards other
professions and even top com-
panies.
Obviously, this campaign is
intended to increase tax compli-
ance, and for now, it appears that
the BIR is committed to this neg-
ative reinforcement technique
amidst protests from affected
groups.
What many of us do not know is
that failure to pay the right taxes
does not only entail the payment
of deciency taxes and attendant
penalties but may also involve
criminal charges for tax evasion,
which carries the punishment
of imprisonment. Even juridi-
cal entities such as associations,
partnerships or corporations are
not exempted from criminal liabil-
ity. Under Section 253 of the Tax
Code, the penalty may be imposed
upon the partner, president, gen-
eral manager, branch manager,
treasurer, officer-in-charge, and
employees responsible for the
violation.
A taxpayer is liable for tax eva-
sion if he/it is required under
the Tax Code but willfully fails
to pay any tax, make a return
or keep the required record; to
supply the correct and accurate
information; or to withhold
or remit taxes withheld, at the
times required by law or rules
and regulations.
Based on this, there are es-
sential elements that must exist
before a taxpayer can be made
liable for tax evasion. Among
these elements, it is the act of
willfulness of the accused that is
the most difficult to prove, con-
sidering that it is a state of mind
that may only be inferred from the
circumstances proven in the case.
The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA)
noted in one case that the proof
of willfulness may be, and usually
is, derived from circumstantial
evidence alone.
Although a tax evasion case is
criminal in nature, the element of
willfulness should not be equat-
ed with criminal intent. To clarify,
the CTA explained that, willful
in the tax crime statutes means a
voluntary, intentional violation of
a known legal duty and bad faith or
bad purpose need not be shown.
However, many taxpayers charged
with tax evasion make the mistake
of trying to disprove allegations of
willfulness by raising the defense
of good faith.
In a recent CTA case, the ac-
cused, a president of a corpora-
tion, attempted to refute the
existence of willfulness by rais-
ing the defense of good faith. He
acknowledged during the trial
that, despite knowledge of the as-
sessment, he deliberately refused
to pay the assessed documentary
stamp tax (DST) on the basis of a
BIR ruling and the advice of his
counsel that the corporation is not
liable to pay it.
Thus, in rejecting his defense of
good faith, the CTA held that the
deliberate failure of the accused,
in his capacity as president of the
corporate taxpayer, to pay the
assessed DST (that had become
nal and executory) was a volun-
tary and intentional violation of a
known legal duty arising from the
said assessment.
The court claried that under
Section 6 of the Tax Code, the ob-
ligation to pay the assessed tax
arises from the moment the Com-
missioner or her duly authorized
representative issues a notice
and demands the payment of any
deciency tax. In this case, when
the accused failed to le a protest
within the time allowed by law, he
deliberately chose to ignore the
assessment despite the clear rem-
edy available to dispute it. Accord-
ingly, he cannot take the law into
his own hands by outright refusal
to recognize the assessment based
solely due to his strong belief that
the corporation was not liable to
pay the DST.
Altogether, the CTA ruling
highlights this lesson: When fac-
ing tax evasion charges, the BIR
need not prove that the taxpayer
acted in bad faith. Thus, good
faith will not strike down alle-
gations of willful intent. There
must be circumstantial evidence
that there was no willful intent
to evade tax, which could include
responding to BIR assessments
in a timely manner following the
prescribed procedures under the
law.
The author is a senior consul-
tant at the tax services depart-
ment of Isla Lipana & Co., the
Philippine member rm of the PwC
network. Readers may call (02)
845-2728 or e-mail the author at
may.y.kintanar@ph.pwc.com for
questions or feedback.
The views or opinions presented
in this article are solely those of
the author and do not necessarily
represent those of Isla Lipana & Co.
The rm will not accept any liabil-
ity arising from the article.
DAVAO CITY Consolida-
tions and mergers among ru-
ral banks are expected as they
prepare to compete with those
of other countries under the
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) economic
integration next year.
At the Rural Bankers As-
sociation of the Philippines
(RBAP) nati onal conven-
tion, which opened here on
Wednesday, Chuchi G. Fona-
cier, supervision and exami-
nation managing director of
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,
said several rural banks have
been negotiating lately to con-
solidate or merge.
There is an appetite for
that. They have recognized
that they need to strengthen
their financial conditions for
them to be able to compete,
CITING the countrys growing
economy, President Benigno S. C.
Aquino III yesterday invited busi-
nessmen from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
to invest in the Philippines.
Addressing some 45 members
of the ASEAN Business Club
(ABC), during their Wednesday
courtesy call in Malacaang, Mr.
Aquino said: May I invite you
then to consider joining us
working with us even more in
harnessing the opportunities and
potentials in our country today.
With the Philippines on an
economic upswing and the in-
tegration of ASEAN economies
in 2015, the President urged the
businessmen to make the most
of their time in the country [and]
to expand connections and forge
stronger relationships with [their]
Filipino counterparts.
In our increasingly global-
ized milieu, I believe we can all
agree that our operations func-
tion more smoothly when we are
given the chance to interact and
work together to exchange best
practices, and even coordinate ef-
fort towards achieving inclusive
and sustainable prosperity and
progress, Mr. Aquino said.
Describing the country as
Asias bright spot, the President
noted the Philippines has become
a viable destination for invest-
ments and tourists as he cited the
countrys economic growth re-
maining high and even surpass-
ing targets amid downward global
trend.
This is partly because, to a cer-
tain extent, external volatility and
subdued global demand has not
afected the country, since we are
neither resource-dependent nor
export-oriented, he said.
THE DEPARTMENT of Trans-
portation and Communications
(DoTC) formally bid out yesterday
the P836.46-million contract to
upgrade the ancillary systems of
Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).
The agency yesterday pub-
lished its invitation to bid for the
second lot of the governments
Capacity Expansion Project for
the MRT-3.
As we increase MRT-3s ca-
pacity... we need to upgrade its
ancillary systems as well, DoTC
Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya
was quoted saying in a press re-
lease yesterday.
THE BUREAU of Plant Industry
(BPI), an attached agency of the
Department of Agriculture (DA),
has issued rules on importing
celery, lettuce, and other select
greens from the United States, cit-
ing pest control reduction.
In DA administrative Circular
No. 02, Series of 2014, which ran in
a broadsheet yesterday, the regu-
lator said that it issued the rules
mainly to determine potential
risks of introducing quarantine
pests of vegetables from the US
and establish pertinent measures
such as quarantine and treatment.
The order covers celery, let-
tuce, and crucifers such as cab-
bage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok
choy (Baguio pechay), turnips, and
wasabi.
Importers must apply for ac-
creditation by paying an initial
P5,000 and an annual renewal
processing fee of P3,000 in ad-
The contract involves upgrad-
ing the rail lines traction sub-pow-
er station and its depot facilities,
as well as constructing the North
Avenue turnback and the Taft Av-
enue pocket track extension.
Bid documents will be issued
during the pre-bid conference on
May 28.
Earlier this year, the DoTC
signed the contract for the rst lot
of the Capacity Expansion Project,
involving the purchase of 48 new
train coaches for MRT-3.
These coaches are set to be de-
livered in monthly tranches next
year. The deadline is 2017, but the
winning supplier has committed to
deliverall 48newunitsbymid-2016.
These activities are intended
to alleviate the congestion experi-
enced by MRT-3 passengers.
Mr. Abaya said in yesterdays
statement that, in the mean-
time, the government is looking
for quick improvements such as
extending operating hours in the
morning and experimenting with
the viability of an express service.
The DoTC also signed the con-
tract for a contactless ticketing
system for MRT-3 and Light Rail
Transit Lines 1 and 2 in March.
C.J.V. Dela Paz
dition to attending a seminar,
submitting facilities to inspection,
and presenting valid state permits
including papers from the local
government, the Bureau of Cus-
toms (BoC), and the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Applicants must also have
a Sanitary and Phytosanitary
(SPS) Import Clearance from
the BPI, which is valid for two
months, and Plant Quarantine
Clearance (PQC), which is non-
transferrable.
Vegetables bound for the Phil-
ippines must only come from the
states of California and Arizona,
and must be washed and subject to
random inspection, before pack-
ing into boxes properly labeled as
destined for the country.
Importers must then notify a
Plant Quarantine Official of the
consignments arrival 48 hours
prior and submit the produce to
border inspection by the BoC, with
seemingly infected goods subject
to laboratory testing.
Produce that is mislabeled,
infected with pests, or presented
with incomplete or falsified pa-
pers will be seized and destroyed,
or shipped back to its country of
origin or on to a third state.
The importer will also be no-
tified of the confiscation, cover
costs related to the execution of
penalties imposed on them, and
will be removed from the list of
accredited importers.
An import permit, meanwhile,
may be suspended or revoked for
reasons including consignment
misdeclaration, suspension of
accreditation, preventing facility
inspection, and falsifying informa-
tion.
The circular takes efect in about
two weeks or 15 days after publica-
tion. Anton Joshua M. Santos
The President noted that the
information technology - business
process outsourcing sector con-
tinues to remain a strong driver of
growth, while the manufacturing
industry is experiencing a re-
surgence due to robust domestic
demand.
This strong domestic demand
is another indication of the po-
tential that investors see in the
Philippines on top of our admin-
istrations commitment to good
governance, strong macroeconom-
ic fundamentals, and the credit-
rating upgrades we have received
from all three major credit-rating
agencies placing us at invest-
ment grade or higher, he added.
Ayala Corp. Chairman and
Chief Executive Ofcer Jaime Au-
gusto Zobel de Ayala also said that
the Philippines has emerged a
country of choice, citing the Phil-
ippines outstanding economic
performance.
For his part, ABC Group Chief
Executive Datu Sri Nazir Razak
committed to helping the ASEAN
countries, with only a little over a
year before the planned economic
integration in the region.
Well facilitate doing business
here, he said.
Following this, the President
committed to continue reforms
that will push for a more friendly
business climate in the country.
Whether it is cutting down
red tape to allow businesses to set
up shop more easily, or plugging
leaks and instituting reforms in
our budgeting process-whether it
is making massive investments in
our people through skills training
and education, health, and social
services, or enhancing the state
of national infrastructure, Mr.
Aquino said.
ASEAN Business Club mem-
bers are currently in the country
to attend the three-day World
Economic Forum, May 21-23,
hosted by Manila for the rst time.
Ms. Fonacier told BusinessWorld
on the sidelines of the two-day
event.
She said rural banks must
be creative so they can provide
products that are needed by their
communities; there is no single
template that the banks need to
follow because the areas served
are diverse.
It is always a challenge to tap
the market, so they must come up
with products that suit the places
where they are, she said.
Ms. Fonacier added that there
are about 10 small banks now that
are in discussions on possible
mergers and consolidations but
declined to name any of them, in
order to not pre-empt negotia-
tions.
The countrys central bank has
come up with the Strengthening
Program for Rural Banks pro-
gram, which provides incentives
to those that would merge or con-
solidate. Launched in 2010, the
program encourages rural banks
and thrift banks to merge with
bigger banks or be acquired by
major third-party investors.
The program provides incen-
tives to those involved in the trans-
actions in terms of relaxed capital
and possible preferred share, or
loans from the Philippine Deposit
Insurance Corp. The program is
set to end by the end of the year.
Ms. Fonacier said rural banks
must also be able to improve their
risk management systems so they
can compete with similar enter-
prises in other countries within
the ASEAN. She said the industry
must prepare for the integra-
tion in order to compete for the
600-million-strong consumer
market in the region.
In order for the rural banks
to compete, Ms. Fonacier said
there is a need for stakehold-
ers to make necessary adjust-
ments in running their banks.
It is really in the risk man-
agement system that [poses
difculty] and their governance
[mechanisms], she added.
Vittorio Z. Almario, RBAP
president, told BusinessWorld
that member-banks have
been looking at mechanisms
to improve their systems, par-
ticularly in addressing risks
because of low capital.
We keep on improving our
systems so that we will be able
to compete, not just with oth-
ers that may come in but also
with other institutions that
ofer similar products, Mr. Al-
mario also said. Carmelito
Q. Francisco
A METRO Rail Transit Line 3 train makes its way down the tracks in this 2011 photo.
AFP
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S1/7 Agribusiness
US acts to ght disease harming fair trade coffee
WASHINGTON The US government
announced Monday a new $5-million
effort to fght a disease savaging
Central Americas fair trade coffee
bean harvest and pressuring the
price of a morning cup.
The US Agency for International
Development said the outbreak of
coffee rust has caused $1 billion in
damage in Central and South Amer-
ica and the Caribbean since 2012
and threatens a half-million jobs.
It said a new partnership with
Texas A&M Universitys World Coffee
Research institute to eliminate coffee
rust and shore up farmers livelihoods
would also ensure farmers do not turn
to producing lucrative drug crops.
Coffee rust threatens more than
your morning coffee it affects
jobs, businesses and the security
of millions across the Americas,
USAID Associate Administrator Mark
Feierstein said.
We must tackle this outbreak to
ensure farmers and laborers have
stable incomes, dont start growing
BRUSSELS Several EU coun-
tries pressed Monday to change
best before food labeling,
blamed for millions of tons of food
being thrown away when getting a
square meal is a daily struggle for
many.
European Union agriculture
ministers discussed a document
which argued that labels recom-
mending consumption before a
specific date were inappropriate
for foodstuffs such as rice, pasta
or cofee.
These products could be kept
for longer without any harm be-
ing done, it said, with the best
before date system causing un-
necessary food waste.
Reducing food losses and
food waste... is a high priority for
many European countries, the
document said, estimating annual
losses at 89 million metric tons in
Europe.
This labeling has nothing to
do with health; its more to do with
quality, which I think consumers
can judge for themselves, Dutch
Agriculture Minister Sharon Di-
jksma said.
We really need to do more,
Ms. Dijksma said, highlighting
wider concerns about food secu-
rity at a time of fast global popula-
tion growth.
The European Commission,
the EUs executive arm, is prepar-
ing a report for June on a sustain-
able food system due to take into
account growing worries about
food security.
As well as the Netherlands,
countries including Austria, Ger-
many, Denmark, Luxembourg and
Sweden all support changes to at
least minimize the waste problem
while preserving food safety stan-
dards.
According to the World Bank,
about 35% of food ends up being
thrown away, most of it junked
by consumers in the developed
countries. AFP
EU tackles food-wasting
best before labeling
Equipping farmers
tied to food security,
inclusivity
Saudi halts Brazil
beef imports over
suspected mad cow
RIYADH Saudi Arabia has sus-
pended beef imports from Brazil
over fears of a suspected case of
atypical mad cow disease detected
in the country, the Gulf kingdom
said on Monday.
The Saudi agriculture ministry
announced the temporary sus-
pension in a statement carried by
the ofcial SPA news agency.
It follows a warning from the
Paris-based World Organization
for Animal Health (OIE) after a
case of bovine spongiform en-
cephalopathy (BSE) was detected
in the Brazilian state of Mato
Grosso.
Brazil said last month that the
alleged case of BSE was traced to
a single, 12-year-old grazing cow
slaughtered on March 19 due to
old age. It did not have any symp-
toms of the disease.
All animals that had contact
with the cow were identied and
isolated.
Saudi Arabia and other energy-
rich Gulf monarchies are major
importers of beef, of which Brazil
is a main exporter.
In 2012 and early 2013, almost
10 countries suspended their im-
ports of Brazilian beef after a case
of atypical mad cow disease was
detected in an animal that died in
2010 in the southern state of Pa-
rana. A subsequent probe showed
the animal did not die of BSE.
The OIE said at the time that it
was maintaining Brazils status
as a country with an insignicant
risk of BSE. AFP
Farm tariffs to stay,
Japan tells partners
SINGAPORE Japan has told
Pacic trading partners it will not
abolish tarifs in the ve agricul-
tural sectors it considers sacred,
the countrys economy minister,
Akira Amari, said on Monday.
Japan and the 11 other countries
negotiating the Trans-Pacic Part-
nership (TPP) on Tuesday wrapped
up a two-day meeting in Singapore,
hoping to make headway on the
ambitious trade pact after the
United States and Japan reported
progress last month on overcoming
long-running diferences on tarifs.
El Nio weather hits many crops, boosts soybeans: study
OSLO The El Nio weather phe-
nomenon that is likely to strike
this year damages world maize,
rice and wheat yields but boosts
soybeans, according to a study on
Thursday that could help farmers
plan what to grow.
The Japanese-led report gave
what it called a rst global set of
maps linking yields of major crops
to El Nio, a warming of the sur-
face of the tropical Pacic Ocean
that can trigger downpours or
droughts around the globe.
The maps are meant to help
farmers decide which crops or va-
rieties to plant and may give gov-
ernments a famine early warning
However, Mr. Amari said, despite
the progress in negotiations with
the US, Japanwill not agree to abol-
ish tarifs on wheat, rice, dairy, sug-
ar, beef and pork (counted as one),
but he added that Japan still hoped
tocontributetoahigh-qualitypact.
I think Japan, as well as other
countries, are vigorously pushing
forward with bilateral ministerial
meetings, Mr. Amari told report-
ers on the sidelines of the two-day
ministerial meeting.
The discussions are starting to
mesh together quite a bit.
Progress in the Japan-US ne-
gotiations was giving some im-
petus to the broader discussions,
Mr. Amari added. But, he felt
it was unlikely a deal would be
reached Tuesday, echoing com-
ments by a senior US official last
week.
The minister said he had held
a series of two-way talks on Mon-
day, meeting with the US, New
Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Peru and Chile, and planned to
meet with Australia over dinner.
Reuters
system, the study in the journal
Nature Communications said.
Most forecasts show an El Nio
emerging in mid-2014, the UNs
World Meteorological Organiza-
tion (WMO) said last month.
El Nio Spanish for the boy
forms every two to seven years,
and warning signs emerge months
in advance.
Thursdays study said mean
maize yields fell 2.3% in El Nio
years compared to normal in
1984-2004, rice was down 0.4%,
and wheat, 1.4%.
Soybean yields rose 3.5%, with
rainfall patterns favoring big US
and Brazilian harvests.
In years with a La Nia event,
the opposite of El Nio and cool-
ing the Pacic surface, yields for
all four dipped, according to the
study by scientists in Japan, the
United States, Britain, Australia
and Denmark.
Lead author Toshichika Iizumi,
of Japans National Institute for
Agro-Environmental Sciences,
said farmers in Australia were
among those who sometimes
switched crop plans based on El
Nio forecasts.
And Indonesia, for instance,
advised rice farmers to change
planting dates, based on El Nio
phases.
I hope the nding of this study
extends such efforts to national
governments for controlling food
storage, building food trade strat-
egy, and earlier application of food
aid in food insecure regions, he
told Reuters.
MAIZE
The report found big variations
for each crop. Soybean yields
gained overall, for instance, but
fell in India and parts of China in
an El Nio year.
And maize yields, for exam-
ple, suffered in the southeastern
United States, China, East and
West Africa, Mexico and Indo-
nesia during an El Nio year, but
rose in Brazil and Argentina.
Robert Stefanski, chief of the
WMO Agricultural Meteorol-
ogy Program, said the regional im-
pacts were most relevant since he
said there was high uncertainty
about global numbers.
It is difficult to develop and
use any reliable global impact on
global crop production due to El
Nio/La Nia, he told Reuters.
Even in vulnerable regions
more rain for Indian wheat can
be benecial if it falls during the
middle of its crop cycle but if it
falls during harvesting, it can be
detrimental, he said.
Michaela Kuhl, a commod-
ity analyst at Commerzbank, said
more information about El Nios
links to crops was welcome. She
noted the International Cocoa
Organization estimated in 2010
that cocoa yields fall 2.4% in El
Nio years.
But, she cautioned that its
very difcult to show an inuence
of El Nio because it doesnt work
with the same manner and same
strength from one event to an-
other.
The UN panel of climate scien-
tists said in a report last year that
downpours linked to El Nio may
intensify this century. Reuters
FARMERS should be equipped with
innovations and technologies to
attain food security and inclusive
growth, speakers at the Grow Asia
Agriculture Forum yesterday said.
Secretary Francis N. Pangilinan,
recently appointed Presidential Assis-
tant for Food Security and Agricultural
Modernization, noted the need to
place the farmer in the center.
Ultimately... if we are to achieve
security, we must frst secure our
farmers, Mr. Pangilinan said, during
Grow Asias high-level closing plenary,
at the New World Makati Hotel.
We should take care of our farm-
ers because they are the ones who
feed us, he added.
Mr. Pangilinan noted that for sev-
eral years, farmers have been taken
advantage of, abused and simply
forgotten.
We should all start refocusing
and shifting paradigms, he said.
The government, he also said,
should tell the private sector to in-
vest in agriculture in order to support
farmers.
Apart from food security, investing
in agriculture would also help curb
poverty and foster inclusive growth,
Asian Development Bank Vice-Presi-
dent Stephen P. Groff said.
Agriculture is one of the most
effective ways of reducing poverty,
Mr. Groff said, adding the sector is
four times more effective than any
other sector.
If were serious about inclusive
growth... agriculture is going to be at
the core of the solution, he added.
Peter Ter Kulve, president for ASE-
AN (Association of Southeast Asian Na-
tions) and Australasia of Unilever Asia
Private Ltd., for his part, said there is
a need to link up with small farmers
and help them to raise productivity.
Mr. Ter Kulve noted key areas to
boost farmers productivity: sustain-
able agriculture, agrifnance, focus
insurance, food waste, exploring
cross-border trades, and forming an
independent, neutral coordinating
body to exploit partnerships among
countries.
The event, which is part of the World
Economic Forum on East Asia 2014,
launched the Grow Asia partnership
which aims to advance food security
and sustainable, inclusive agricultural
development in support of national and
regional priorities in the ASEAN region.
The partnership focuses on small
farmer development and environmen-
tal sustainability of agriculture.
Mikhail Franz E. Flores
Uruguay to sell marijuana tax-free
MONTEVIDEO Uruguay will
exempt marijuana production and
sales from taxes in a bid to ensure
prices remain low enough to un-
dercut competition from black-
market pot smuggled in from Par-
aguay, according to consultants
advising the government on a le-
galization plan.
Congress approved a law al-
lowing the cultivation and sale of
marijuana in December, making
Uruguay the rst country to do so,
with the aim of wresting the busi-
ness from criminals.
The principal objective is not
tax collection. Everything has to
be geared toward undercutting the
black market, said Felix Abadi, a
contractor who is developing Uru-
guays marijuana tax structure.
So we have to make sure the price
is low.
Uruguay will auction up to
six licenses to produce cannabis
legally in the next weeks. The
government is also considering
growing marijuana on a plot of
land controlled by the military to
avoid illegal trafcking of the crop.
While cigarettes and alcoholic
drinks are taxed heavily in Uru-
guay, the ofcial marijuana trade
will operate virtually tax-free, Mr.
Abadi said. Uruguay does not re-
quire a decree or law to exempt a
product from taxes.
President Jose Mujica signed
a decree outlining the fine print
of the new policy this month. It
says Uruguayans will be able to
buy up to 10 grams of marijuana
a week in pharmacies at between
85 cents and US$1 dollar a gram,
a price comparable to black-
market pot.
An agricultural country of
3.3 million people, Uruguay has
come under the spotlight for the
marijuana law championed by
Mr. Mujica, a 78-year-old former
Marxist guerrilla whose mod-
est lifestyle and philosophical
musings have made him a media
darling abroad.
Uruguay has gone further than
other countries such as Argentina
and Spain, which have decrimi-
nalized possession, or, like the
Netherlands, which tolerates the
sale of marijuana. The US states
of Washington and Colorado have
legalized the sale of cannabis un-
der license, but federal laws still
prohibit sales.
Colorado imposed heavy taxes
on marijuana sales.
Uruguays experiment is being
keenly watched by Latin American
peers at a time when the US-led
war on drugs faces mounting criti-
cism. Success in Uruguay could
fuel momentum for legalization
elsewhere.
While relatively prosperous
Uruguay has low crime rates, one-
third of prisoners are behind bars
on drug charges. Reuters
PEOPLE look at marijuana smoking paraphernalia in a street market in downtown Montevideo on March 10. Deputy Secretary of the
Uruguayan Presidency Diego Canepa gave a news conference on May 2 to announce the regulation of the marijuana law.
REUTERS
REUTERS
illicit crops, or be forced to migrate
because they can no longer support
their families.
According to World Coffee Re-
search, the rust fungus frst showed
up in Arabica plants in Guatemala
in 2010 and accelerated two years
later, with some evidence that global
warming has enabled the fungus to
spread.
Crop yields have fallen 30% in
Guatemala and 20% more widely
in Central America and Jamaica,
according to data from the regional
association Promecafe.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said
the disease is also threatening the
larger Arabica crops of Peru and Colom-
bia, where the agency has supported
the development of fair trade coffee as
an income builder for farmers.
About 500,000 are at risk be-
cause of coffee rust, he said. Peru
and Colombia expect the worst is yet
to come.
The program with Texas A&M will
develop rust-resistant, high-value cof-
fee strains and help introduce them
around the region, and also develop
methods to control the spread of the
fungus.
Major US coffee vendors Star-
bucks, Peets Coffee & Tea, and
Keurig Green Mountain depend on
the Latin American producers for a
signifcant portion of their beans.
AFP
COFFEE GROWER Gloria Balladares, 43, shows a rust-blighted coffee plant at a planta-
tion near Somoto, 200 kilometers from Managua, Nicaragua, in this Feb. 26 photo.
Corporate News Thursday, May 22, 2014 8/S1
TALKS with San Miguel Corp.
President Ramon S. Ang are
progressing smoothly, GMA
Network, Inc.s (GMA-7) chief ex-
ecutive said yesterday, with a deal
likely to be struck in a month.
Should the two parties reach
an agreement, he (Mr. Ang)
will bring a lot of ideas, Felipe
L. Gozon, chairman and chief
executive officer of GMA-7, told
reporters on the sidelines of an
annual stockholders meeting
yesterday.
Mr. Gozon said Mr. Ang had ex-
pressed hope early this month to
close a deal within 30 days.
Mr. Gozon declined to say how
much stake Mr. Ang wanted, cit-
ing a confidentiality agreement,
but noted that there would be
no major shake-up in the broad-
casters operations with Mr. Angs
entry.
Asked if there was any down-
payment given to the network, Mr.
Gozon replied: Im not at liberty
to disclose that.
Mr. Ang rst ofcially admitted
that he is buying into the broad-
caster early this month, although
rumors about the buy-in surfaced
as early as January.
If a deal is reached in a month,
that would end just a few months
of negotiations.
Talks between the network and
telecommunications giant Philip-
pine Long Distance Telephone Co.
(PLDT) lasted for over a decade,
bogged down by price and regula-
tory issues.
PLDTChairmanManuel V. Pang-
ilinanearly this May hadsaidhe was
not even thinking of a new ofer,
after three attempts since 2001 to
buy the broadcasting company. Mr.
PangilinandroppedhisbidinMarch.
Other than San Miguel and
PLDT, Mr. Gozon said at yester-
days interview that the network
has a third suitor, whose name he
did not disclose.
He said he is not entertaining
its ofer.
GMA Network, Inc. sufered a
46% fall in its rst quarter prot
in the absence of revenues from
election-related advertisements.
The broadcasters shares sank
seven centavos or 0.90% to close
P7.68 apiece yesterday from Tues-
days P7.75.
GMA-7, Ang near
buy-in deal
LISTED hotel and recreation rm Leisure & Resorts World
Corp. (LRWC) said it ofered to acquire 100% of the opera-
tor of Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp.s (PAGCOR)
e-Games outlets in Metro Manila and nearby provinces,
thereby boosting LRWCs bingo business.
Alfredo B. Reyes, LRWC investor relations ofcer, told
BusinessWorld in a phone interview that its acquisition tar-
get Digiwave Solutions, Inc. has existing e-Games outlets,
allowing LRWC to take on bingo parlors rather than start
with new outlets. This (acquisition) will continue to make
the business grow.
The ofer of P620 million for the entire company was
made on May 20 and is being studied by shareholders of
Digiwave.
Upon satisfactory results of the due diligence, the
parties shall enter into a share purchase agreement and
other denitive implementing agreements for the sale and
purchase of the shares, LRWC said in its disclosure.
Mr. Reyes said the agreement is expected to close in June
and will be nanced internally.
Digiwave operates 45 e-Games outlets in Metro Manila
and nearby provinces. The e-Games operator is 85% owned
by Premier Horizon Alliance Corp. (PHA).
The PHA board accepted LRWCs offer Wednesday,
prompting the stock exchange to halt the trading of LRWC
from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Mr. Reyes said LRWC, through its subsidiaries, is operat-
ing a total of 75 bingo parlors nationwide, with a target to
open 20 to 30 more sites within the year, many of them
in Bulacan and Cavite. Some are in the permit application
stage while others are already being built.
LRWC, through its subsidiaries, has traditional,
electronic and other bingo operations in Midas Hotel
and Casino in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City and Kings
Royale Hotel and Leisure Park in Pampanga, among
others.
The company through its unit First Cagayan Leisure
& Resort Corp. also has a license agreement with the
Cagayan Economic Zone Authority to build and operate the
Cagayan Special Economic Zone Free Port.
LRWC and its unit AB Leisure Global, Inc. are inves-
tors in City of Dreams Manila, which is currently being
developed by Belle Corp., SM Investments, Corp. and Melco
Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp.
LRWC was formerly Atlas Fertilizer Corp. before a
restructuring in 1996 turned it into a property rm which
later branched out into amusements and recreation.
In the rst quarter, LRWC net income rose 79.5% from a
year earlier to P133.37 million.
LRWC lost ve centavos or 0.65% to P7.65 yesterday.
Kristyn Nika M. Lazo
Gaming company
buying out
PAGCOR operator
SPC Power Corp. has exercised
its right-to-top the ofer of the
highest bidder for the 153.1-mega-
watt (MW) Naga power plant
complex in Cebu which the gov-
ernment is privatizing, the listed
rm said in a statement yesterday.
SPC said it deposited P1.143
billion in payment to the Power
Sector Assets and Liabilities Man-
agement Corp.s (PSALM) account
with the Development Bank of the
Philippines.
Thatpaymentwas5%higherthan
the P1.088-billion offer of Therma
Power Visayas, Inc., a subsidiary of
AboitizPowerCorp. (AboitizPower).
The right-to-top was provid-
ed under the bidding terms that
give SPC the advantage to submit
a counter-ofer.
Under a separate contract with
PSALM, SPC operates and main-
tains the power asset pending its
privatization.
As a sign of good faith, SPC
wired the payment to PSALM on
Tuesday night, SPC said in the
statement.
With the payment, we expect
PSALM to sign and execute, as the
counter party, the Asset Purchase
Agreement and the Land Lease
Agreement attached in the bidding
package which SPC had already
prescribed, SPC said, citing a letter
submittedtothestate-runcompany.
The winning bid covers the sale
and purchase of the Naga power
assets and the lease of the land.
SPCs payment would void
PSALMs notice issued on April
27 that declared Therma Power as
the winning bidder.
The auction for the sale of the
Naga power plant complex was
held last March 31, where the
AboitizPower unit bested SPC, its
only competitor, which tendered
an P859-million ofer.
The first two auctions for the
privatization of the Naga complex
held in July and September last
year both failed after only one
company participated in both ex-
ercises.
The power plant complex con-
sists of three power plants: these
are the coal-fired Cebu thermal
power plants 1 and 2, with installed
capacities of 52.5 MW and 56.8
MW, respectively; and 43.8-MW
Cebu diesel power plant, consist-
ing of six 7.3-MW diesel-fed power
units.
Under the Republic Act No.
9136 or the Electric Power Indus-
try Reform Act of 2001, PSALM
is mandated to manage the
privatization and maintenance
of National Power Corp.s power
generation assets, liabilities, con-
tracted capacities, and disposable
assets. Claire-Ann Marie C.
Feliciano
FOUR listed miners reported mixed
results last quarter, with nickel miners
riding a boom in the industrial metal
which saw Benguet Corp. (BC) report
an earnings rise of 84%.
Benguet, which also has interests
in health care, industrial equipment,
shipping, and property, reported in a dis-
closure a net income of P66.6 million in
the three months to March off operating
revenue of P1.02 billion, up 56.5%.
Results were driven by strong
nickel prices and improved volumes
at wholly-owned Benguet Nickel
Mines, Inc. Benguet Nickel ore output
rose sharply to 539,622 wet metric
tons (WMT) compared with 269,421
WMT a year earlier.
Nickel miner Marcventures Hold-
ings, Inc. (MHI) reported a turnaround
with a proft of P50.57 million in the
frst quarter against a year-earlier loss
of P26.69 million.
Ore sales totaled P245.85 million,
following zero sales a year earlier
after heavy rains derailed mining
operations.
On Monday, MHIs wholly owned
subsidiary, Marcventure Mining and
Development Corp. (MMDC) told the
bourse it is contesting a Mines and
Geosciences Bureau suspension of
the frms operations in Surigao del
Sur, which alleged it mined outside its
alloted area.
Atok-Big Wedge Company, Inc.,
meanwhile, said losses narrowed to
P5.91 million from P11.85 million
a year earlier. The company posted
higher general and administrative
expenses which were mitigated by
non-recurring income of P1.43 million
in the frst quarter. A year earlier the
non-recurring account was in the red.
Atok is led by former trade minister
Roberto V. Ongpin.
Vulcan Industrial and Mining Corp.
(VIMC) net income fell 77.86% during
the period to P886,507.
The company, which primarily pro-
duces rock aggregates in Montalban,
Rizal, said it had zero revenue for the
frst quarter, incurring a net loss of
P1.1 million. Its year earlier result had
been boosted by an extraordinary gain
of treasury shares.
Yesterday, Benguet Corp. shares
lost 15 centavos or 1.60% to close at
P9.20, while MHI shares shed 16 cen-
tavos or 3.35% to end at P4.62.
Atok shares fell by two centavos
or 0.11% to end at P17.88, as VIMC
shares lost three centavos or 2.03%
to close at P1.45.
Benguet Q1 net up 84%,
leading miners
SPC submits counter-offer
for Naga plant
Thermal plant work set
A JOINT VENTURE of the power
unit of Ayala Corp., the Philip-
pines oldest conglomerate, ex-
pects construction of a $1-billion
thermal plant to start in the fourth
quarter after it roped in a Chinese
contractor to build the plant.
GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co., a
joint venture of Ayalas AC Energy
Holdings, Inc. and Power Partners
Ltd., awarded the contract for the
552-megawatt thermal facility to
Shanghai Electric Power Construc-
tionCo., aunitofPowerConstruction
Corp of China Ltd., Ayala said in a
stockexchangelingonWednesday.
The thermal facility to come up
in the Lanao del Norte province in
southern Philippines is expected
to start operations in three years.
The plant will be a part of Ayalas
expansion into the power business.
This puts us on track to achieve
our goal of developing over 1000
megawatts of attributable capacity
both in conventional and renewable
technologies, said Eric Francia, AC
Energy chief executive ofcer.
Over 300-MW capacity of the
plant has been allotted by GNPK
for long-term power purchase
deals, the conglomerate noted.
The plant will be equipped with
cutting-edge equipment, includ-
ing 4 Siemens steam turbines
and generators manufactured in
Germany, the statement read.
Reuters/C. A. M. C. Feliciano
BRIEFS
Preemptive move
RACETRACK OPERATOR Manila
Jockey Club, Inc. (MJC) has bought
50.6% of Apo Reef World Resorts,
Inc. (ARWRI) in line with its leisure-
oriented property development
plans. The purchase was made
ahead of the companys planned
construction of a luxury hotel in
Sta. Cruz, Manila, within its San
Lazaro Tourism and Business Park.
The frm said in a disclosure yester-
day that it has subscribed to P80
million worth of common shares in
ARWRI, which owns 122 hectares
of beach front and valley properties
in Mamburao, Mindoro Occidental.
The hotel in Manila will form part
of a future mixed-use casino and
retail development. MJC develops
properties through joint ventures,
although its main license was to
operate and maintain a racetrack
and stage horse races. Its shares
yesterday closed at P1.85 apiece,
up 2.78% or P0.05 from a day
earlier.
Voting interest hiked
FIRST Gen Corp. has hiked its vot-
ing interest in its affliate, Energy
Development Corp. (EDC), to more
than 50% for P48.5 million. First
Gen, in its disclosure yesterday, said
it purchased a total of 31 million
voting preferred shares of stock
Prime Terracota Holdings Corp.
from Lopez Inc. Retirement Fund.
(LIRF). Prime Terracota through
its subsidiary Red Vulcan Holdings
Corp. serves as the 60% voting
and 40% economic owner of EDC.
With its purchase of 31 million vot-
ing preferred shares of LIRF in Prime
Terracota, First Gens voting stake
in Prime Terracota will increase from
45% to 73%, the disclosure read.
First Gens effective voting interest
in EDC is likewise increased from
33.6% to 50.7%, it added. First
Gen said the transaction involves
P48,547,530.86 and was paid
through internally-generated funds.
LIRF was established through the
provisions of the Lopez, Inc. Em-
ployee Retirement Fund. Lopez,
Inc. owns a majority stake in Lopez
Holdings Corp., which in turn is the
largest shareholder of First Philip-
pine Holdings Corp., the parent
company of First Gen, according to
the disclosure. Further information
were not immediately available yes-
terday. Shares of First Gen closed
at P19.80 apiece yesterday, down
65 centavos or 3.18% from P20.45
apiece on Tuesday ; while those of
EDC shed two centavos or 0.32% to
P6.15 apiece.
Allegations denied
KEY DIRECTORS of Alliance Se-
lect Foods International, Inc. has
denied allegations that they rail-
roaded the entry of a new investor,
after minority shareholders fled
a petition to nullify the companys
issuance of shares to Strongoak,
Inc. In a statement attached to a
disclosure yesterday, the company
denied giving inadequate notice
on the issuance of almost 500 mil-
lion shares to Strongoak, as well
as overpowering board member
Hedy Yap-Chua, who reportedly
tried to voice concerns during a
May 5 board meeting. Minority
shareholders, led by Ms. Chua and
Albert Hong Hin Kay, had claimed
the transaction was a fy-by-night
deal. [W]e would like to inform
the Exchange that contrary to Ms.
Chua and Mr. Hongs allegations,
proper procedures were observed
in calling and conduct of the Meet-
ing, Corporate Information Offcer
Rajat Balain said in the statement.
He added: The notice, the agenda
and all other available materials
were sent to all parties prior to the
Meeting and all parties were given
suffcient opportunity to voice their
positions during the Meeting. Mr.
Balain also said that the Boards
action will redound to the beneft
of the Corporation, its shareholders
and the investing public. Last May
12, Mr. Hong and Ms. Chua fled
a case at the Pasay City Regional
Trial Court seeking to block the
share sale. Shares in the company
yesterday closed at P1.42, down
P3.4% or fve centavos.
NEWS
ONLINE
www.bworldonline.com
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S1/9
China goes local to soften downturns hit
Property&Infrastructure
Project Assets Preservation of National Roads Generated from
Pavement Management System/Highway Development
and Management-4 (HDM-4), Preventive Maintenance
(Intermittent Sections) along Jct. Milagros-Baleno-
Lagta Road, Mandaon, Masbate, K0044+580
K0045+800
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce, Masbate
City
Estimated Cost P20.50 million
Project Duration 73 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from May 16 to June
5, 2014.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on May 23, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND PESOS (P25,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will frst process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce,
Masbate City reserves the right to accept or reject any
bids, annul the bidding process anytime before Contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected
bidders.
Project Assets Preservation of National Roads Generated from
Pavement Management System/Highway Development
and Management-4 (HDM-4), Preventive Maintenance
(Intermittent Sections) along Masbate-Circumferential
Road, Masbate City, K0002+455 K0003+502
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce, Masbate
City
Estimated Cost P8.84 million
Project Duration 45 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from May 16 to June
5, 2014.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on May 23, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will frst process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce,
Masbate City reserves the right to accept or reject any
bids, annul the bidding process anytime before Contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected
bidders.
Project Construction of Drainage Protection along Masbate-
Cataingan-Placer Road, Tugbo, Masbate City, K0001+830
K0002+168
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce, Masbate
City
Estimated Cost P7.56 million
Project Duration 90 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from May 16 to June
5, 2014.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on May 23, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on June 5, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will frst process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Masbate First District Engineering Offce,
Masbate City reserves the right to accept or reject any
bids, annul the bidding process anytime before Contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected
bidders.
BIDDING SCHEDULE
On the Rise
The latest project of Shang Properties, Inc. The Rise Makati, shown in this undated offcial artists rendering is expected
to deliver P11 billion in sales when the 63-storey mixed residential and retail project, rising along Yakal and Malibay streets
in Makati City, is completed by 2018.
Megaworld township
seen to boost Davao
Questions over Chinese duplitecture
CHONGQING Already re-
nowned for copying Western
goods from trainers to cham-
pagne, China is building up its rep-
lica reputation with a miniature
Mount Rushmore, Eifel Tower
and an entire Austrian village.
The reproduced structures
also dubbed duplitecture can
appear bizarre to outsiders but
make sense to many in the country.
I think its a good thing. I can
see things from places that Ive
never been, said a man surnamed
Fu, 32, sitting in a Chongqing park
scattered with sculptures includ-
ing Michelangelos David, Rodins
Thinker and the gigantic heads of
four American presidents.
Elsewhere in the southwestern
city a set of curved white buildings
under construction have sparked
controversy for their striking
resemblance to a Beijing devel-
opment by star British architect
Zaha Hadid.
Copying was something China
does, a retired judge said as she
walked past the site, adding: I think
its a good thing we can learn from
the experience of others.
The director of Ms. Hadids
Beijing project was less positive,
reportedly calling the property
company pirates. It has de-
nied copying and told AFP it had
reached an agreement with the
original developer, which declined
to comment.
A REALLY PRACTICAL
SOLUTION
The duplitecture trend devel-
oped alongside Chinas real es-
BEIJING China will increasingly
manage its troubled property sector
at a local level as it seeks to avoid
sparking either an abrupt slowdown
that undermines the economy or
another surge in prices, according to
government economists involved in
policy discussions.
After increasing at double-digit
rates through most of last year, home
prices started cooling in late 2013
as a sustained campaign to clamp
down on speculative investment and
easy credit gained traction.
Annual growth in average new
home prices slowed to an 11-month
low in April, offcial data showed on
Sunday. Existing home prices dropped
from a month earlier in 22 of 70 cities
in April, compared with 14 in March.
Data last week showed property
sales dropped 6.9% in the January-
April period from a year earlier in
terms of foor space, and fell 7.8% in
terms of value.
Authorities know a severe prop-
erty crunch could worsen a build-up
of debt, but also that a blanket
easing of restrictions could set off
another round of credit-fueled house
price rises.
There is no sign that the central
government will relax property
controls on a nationwide scale even
though the economy is slowing,
said Zhao Xijun, deputy head of the
Finance and Securities Institute at
Renmin University in Beijing.
DAVAO CITY The citys econo-
my and the information and com-
munications technology (ICT)
sector in particular are expected
to get a further boost with the en-
try of developer Megaworld Corp.,
which is investing P15 billion in
ve years in its Davao Park Dis-
trict project.
However, Maria Lourdes G.
Monteverde, president of the Phil-
ippine Institute of Real Estate Ser-
vice Practitioners of Davao City,
said that the government should
address the power situation in
Mindanao to make this city more
competitive in manufacturing and
ICT.
Ms. Monteverde said that
Megaworld and the government
should ensure that infrastructure
support is place before the project
is completed, estimated to be be-
tween 2020 and 2022.
The city had to endure as long
as seven hours of daily power out-
ages two weeks ago, but the situ-
ation has improved significantly
since last week, with almost zero
brownouts in the citys downtown
area.
Ms. Monteverde said the en-
try of Megaworld is also a strong
statement that Davao is a major
property investment destina-
tion, as its project marks a new
concept in township develop-
ment where living, working,
playing, and learning are all in
one area.
It truly supports Davaos man-
tra of Life is Here, she said, using
the local governments slogan for
promoting the city to investors
and tourists.
We are hoping that Mega-
world will develop a project that
is recreational in nature and uses
strategies that will address trafc
congestion and ooding, said City
Tourism Officer Maria Felisa C.
Marques.
In March, Megaworld an-
nounced its Mindanao entry
with the Davao township project,
to rise on an 11-hectare area at
the Dakudao Loop behind SM
Lanang Premier. The township
is about six kilometers north of
downtown and used to be part
of the more-than-20-hectare
Lanang Golf and Country Club.
Maya M. Padillo
tate boom in recent decades, es-
pecially for creations conveying
prestige and success, said Bianca
Bosker, the New York-based au-
thor of Original Copies: Architec-
tural Mimicry in Contemporary
China.
Among the most eye-popping
examples are a copy of the Aus-
trian alpine village and UNESCO
World Heritage Site of Hallstatt in
the southern province of Guang-
dong, which even the ofcial news
agency Xinhua called a bold ex-
ample of Chinas knock-off cul-
ture.
An assemblage of Parisian
monuments, including the Eiffel
Tower and a fountain from Ver-
sailles, stand in Hangzhou, as does
a French village.
Hebei province has an imi-
tation Sphinx, while outside
Shanghai sits Thames Town, an
English-themed suburb featuring
a statue of Winston Churchill,
a church from Bristol and look-
alikes of guards at the Bucking-
ham Palace.
The imitations are open to
mockery, but Ms. Bosker says
that such replicas provide an easy
way to convey prestige on a huge
scale.
In the US, we see people who
copy as unimaginative thieves. In
China, copiers have been viewed
with more nuance copying can
be a sign of skill, and it can also just
be a really practical solution to a
problem, she told AFP.
Developers wanted a way to
brand their developments, and
the home owners wanted a way
to brand their lifestyle and their
economic success.
And one of the easiest solu-
tions to that was to copy architec-
ture that was most emblematic of
a kind of aristocratic and sophisti-
cated-seeming lifestyle, she said,
citing Versailles, Venice and the
White House as popular models.
That pragmatic streak also
drives the mass production of
knockofs, including Italian hand-
bags, Swiss watches, French wine,
Hollywood films and iPhones,
while the southwestern city of
Kunming once even hosted a fake
Apple store.
In Dafen, part of the boom town
of Shenzhen next to Hong Kong,
an army of artists duplicate mas-
terpieces ranging from Vincent
van Gogh to Jackson Pollock.
The fakes allow Chinese to en-
joy what they could not otherwise
aford, said a young man strolling
at an amusement park in Chongq-
ing featuring a miniature New
York, Venice-like canals and Rio
de Janeiros Christ the Redeemer
statue rotating atop a ride.
In terms of respecting others
creativity, its not okay. But for a
China thats still developing, for a
certain time, theres a use for it,
he said.
When Chinas economy be-
comes developed enough, then
there wont be a market for copied
goods.
ANYTHING FOREIGN
IS GOOD
Even so, the rampant imitation
raises questions of national pride
in a country boasting a rich his-
tory and now regaining global
clout.
In March, Renmin University
President Chen Yulu urged his
countrymen to refrain from copy-
ing European architectural styles
and work harder to promote local
culture, Xinhua paraphrased him
as saying, while itself warning of
an eerie copycat architectural
landscape.
As China rises in stature and
wealth, it will increasingly seek
inspiration from within, said Ms.
Bosker, adding that already there
seems to be a new condence and
interest in their own indigenous
styles.
At the park with the Mount
Rushmore replica, a man in his
20s surnamed Mao argued that
Chinas neighbors mimicked its
culture when it held greater sway
in the past, and would do so again
as the country reclaims the stage.
If people have something good,
then we will copy it, he said. This
is something every country, every
society does, not only China.
But, a 27-year-old woman sur-
named Huang, walking past the
fake Manhattan with a friend, said
her compatriots should embrace
their own heritage.
It seems like Chinese people
have this view that anything for-
eign is good, that anything with
English writing, whether or not
they can read it, is good, she
said.
China is not inferior to anyone,
but nobody really cares a lot about
Chinas ancient past. AFP
The pressure is mainly on local
governments, because some of their
debts are maturing and they need to
repay.
Local governments rely heavily
on revenues from land sales to fund
debts that offcial data show total
17.9 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion), so
price falls and slowing sales have
sparked concerns about their ability
to service their debts.
The economists expect restric-
tions on property introduced over
the past fve years to largely remain
in place, particularly in major cities,
but with some local authorities given
leeway to support their markets.
Some smaller cities, including
the eastern city of Tongling in Anhui
province and Ningbo, the coastal city
of eastern Zhejiang province and the
southern city of Nanning in Guangxi,
have started to loosen home pur-
chase rules.
Back in 2012, Beijing forced gov-
ernments in areas including Wuhu,
Foshan and Chengdu to retract plans
to ease controls on real estate, but
there has been no such response
this year.
They (policy makers) are still
watching. Property prices have
started to fall but they still dont see
any serious problems, said a senior
economist at a government think-
tank in Beijing.
The bottom line is that a prop-
erty slowdown doesnt trigger fnan-
cial risks, said the economist, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
DRAG ON GROWTH
President Xi Jinping has said China
should adapt to a new normal of
slower growth as the government push-
es market-based reforms to cut debt
levels in the economy and generate
more sustainable long-term growth.
The cooling real estate market
helped drag annual economic growth
to an 18-month low of 7.4% in the frst
quarter, and a sustained fall would risk
China missing its economic growth
target for the fst time in 15 years.
Standard Chartered said offcial
fgures showed 17 months stock of
apartments in Tier 1 to Tier 3 cities,
which cover Chinas major metropo-
lises, including Beijing and Shanghai.
The momentum is clearly nega-
tive. This downturn appears worse
than previous episodes the scale
of oversupply is likely to be larger,
and policy makers are understand-
ably more hesitant to step in with
immediate support, Standard Char-
tered economists said in a report.
The government is still try-
ing to deal with the hangover of a
four-trillion-yuan stimulus package
implemented in 2008-2009, which
insulated China from the global crisis
but also created piles of local debt
and record house prices.
Its natural to relax controls if
property prices fall. Our purpose is to
curb price rises and we should relax
if prices no longer rise, said Zhu
Baoliang, chief economist at State
Information Center, a top government
think tank.
I dont think property prices will
rise further. On the contrary, the
downward pressure is big.
Last week, the central bank called
on banks to speed up the granting
of home loans to frst home buyers,
although that is seen having only a
limited impact.
We doubt that banks will rush
out with mortgages, analysts at
Bank of America/Merill Lynch said in
a research note.
Even a meaningful increase in
mortgage supply shouldnt funda-
mentally change the worsening
property market conditions.
Many economists believe that
if the economy slows further, the
central bank will cut banks reserve
requirement ratios around the middle
of the year. That would support activ-
ity, but it is a broad-brush policy that
authorities cant fully control.
We need to keep liquidity
relatively loose to help safeguard
economic growth, said Li Huiyong,
chief economist at Shenyin & Wan-
guo Securities in Shanghai.
But money has no label and we
cannot rule out the possibility that
money will drive up property prices,
even though it has yet to lead to im-
provement in the economy. Reuters
Thursday, May 22, 2014 10/S1
The
World
SHANGHAI Chinese Presi-
dent Xi Jinping appeared to warn
some Asian nations on Wednesday
about strengthening military al-
liances to counter China, saying
this would not benet regional se-
curity.
But he also pledged to peace-
fully resolve Chinas disputes over
territory, which have intensified
in recent years, especially in the
South and East China Seas.
To beef up military alliances
targeted at a third party is not con-
ducive to maintaining common se-
curity in the region, Mr. Xi said in
a speech, following a period when
some Asian countries have sought
to reafrm their security ties with
Washington.
During a visit to Asia last month,
US President Barack Obama also
sought to reassure allies such as
Japan and the Philippines that his
long-promised strategic shift to-
wards Asia and the Pacic, widely
seen as aimed at countering Chi-
nas rising inuence, was real.
Mr. Xi made his remarks at a
regional conference in Shanghai
in front of Vietnamese Vice-Pres-
ident Nguyen Thi Doan, as well as
representatives from the Philip-
pines, Japan and more than 40
other countries and organizations.
He did not mention the United
States.
China is embroiled in bitter dis-
putes with Vietnam and the Phil-
ippines over maritime boundaries
in the South China Sea. Beijing
and Tokyo are also at loggerheads
over disputed islands in the East
China Sea.
Anti-Chinese violence flared
in Vietnam last week after Chi-
nese state oil company CNOOC
deployed an oil rig 240 kilometers
(150 miles) of the coast of Vietnam
in waters also claimed by Hanoi.
The rig was towed there just
days after Mr. Obama left the re-
gion.
The move was the latest in a
series of confrontations between
China and some of its neighbors
over the potentially oil-and-gas
rich South China Sea. Washington
has responded with sharpened
rhetoric toward Beijing, describ-
ing a pattern of provocative ac-
tions by China.
Mr. Xi sought to play down con-
cerns about Chinas intentions.
China stays committed to
seeking peaceful settlement of
disputes with other countries over
territorial sovereignty and mari-
time rights and interests, he said.
Chinas Xi issues warning to Asia
His speech was given at a meet-
ing of the little-known Conference
on Interaction and Confidence
Building Measures in Asia, or
CICA.
China has seized upon its host-
ing of the forum, launched by Ka-
zakhstan in the early 1990s, to try
to build clout in the region and
beyond. Russian President Vladi-
mir Putin and President Hassan
Rouhani of Iran both attended.
State broadcaster China Cen-
tral Television aired live the ar-
rival of various leaders for the
meeting, but underscoring the
sensitivity of Chinas territorial
disputes it cut away from images
of Mr. Xi shaking hands with the
representatives from Vietnam, the
Philippines and Japan.
Mr. Xi said a zero-sum, Cold
War concept of security where
one country gains at the expense
of others would not work.
We cannot just have the se-
curity of one or some countries
while leaving the rest insecure,
Mr. Xi said, adding that one should
not seek the so-called absolute
security of itself at the expense of
the security of others.
No country should attempt
to dominate regional security af-
fairs, he said.
Metallurgical Corp. of China
Ltd (MCC) said on Wednesday
that four of its employees working
on a construction project in Viet-
nam were killed and 126 injured
during the anti-China protests last
week.
The Chinese and Vietnamese
governments had put the death
toll at two with 100 or more in-
jured. Reuters
BANGKOK Thailands military
convened crisis talks yesterday
between warring political rivals,
vowing to stop the kingdom de-
generating into another Ukraine
or Egypt after imposing martial
law to suppress months of street
bloodshed.
US-led pressure grew for a re-
turn to civilian control but the
Thai military, which has inter-
vened repeatedly in politics down
the decades, said it would respect
international law and use force
only for issues of security.
Television footage showed
army chief General Prayut Chan-
O-Cha chairing the meeting in
Bangkok yesterday afternoon.
It was to include top ofcials of
the ruling and opposition parties
and of the election commission
and Senate, as well as the heads
of the pro- and anti-government
protest camps.
Caretaker Prime Minister
Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan,
who replaced Yingluck Shinawa-
tra after a controversial court rul-
ing ousted her this month, was
invited but did not attend because
he was busy with other matters,
a government official told AFP,
declining to elaborate.
Five top government ministers
took his place.
Niwattumrong has called for
fresh elections on Aug. 3. But the
opposition wants vaguely dened
reforms first to tackle graft and
has vowed to stay on the streets
until it has eradicated what it calls
the regime of Yinglucks exiled
elder brother Thaksin Shinawa-
tra.
Prayut invoked martial law
Tuesday, saying that he had to act
because tensions had spiralled fol-
lowing extended and deadly anti-
government protests a move
critics branded a de facto coup.
This must be resolved swiftly
before I retire, otherwise I wont
retire, Prayut, who is due to step
down at the end of September, said
Tuesday, according to a transcript
of remarks released by the mili-
tary. I will not allow Thailand to
be like Ukraine or Egypt.
The military intervened after
nearly seven months of protests
that have left 28 people dead and
hundreds wounded. Reuters
TOKYO A Japanese court ruled
against allowing the restart of a
nuclear power plant west of Tokyo
yesterday, its operator said, a rare
case in which anti-nuclear plain-
tifs have successfully won a ruling
to shut down reactors.
The court in Fukui prefecture
ruled against allowing Kansai
Electric Power Co. to restart reac-
tors No. 3 and 4 at its Ohi nuclear
plant, the utility said in a state-
ment, adding it would appeal
against the decision.
Ohi, like all of Japans nuclear
plants, has been idled for safety
checks in the wake of the 2011
disaster at Tokyo Electric Power
Co.s Fukushima Daiichi plant
pending safety checks.
Plaintiffs have rarely won ...
it could have very well have re-
percussions, said Aileen Mioko
Smith, executive director of Green
Action, which earlier this month
had a lawsuit to close the Ohi reac-
tors rejected by a court in Osaka.
National broadcaster NHK said
it was the rst time anti-nuclear
campaigners had won a court rul-
ing, but Ms. Smith said there had
been two other rulings by courts
supporting plant closures.
Those rulings were eventually
overturned by higher courts, she
said. Reuters
Japan court rules against
nuclear plant restart
Thai army chief stages crisis talks
WASHINGTON The emergence
of Prabowo Subianto as a serious
contender in Indonesias election this
week means the United States faces
the awkward possibility of having to
welcome another Asian leader it had
denied entry to because of alleged
links to mass killings.
The situation has arisen days
after Washington found itself having
to change course and promise a
visa to Indian Prime Minister-elect
Narendra Modi, who was barred from
the United States in 2005.
The possibility of another Wash-
ington U-turn became apparent after
Indonesias second largest party on
Monday suddenly switched its sup-
port to Mr. Subianto from front-runner
Joko Jokowi Widodo ahead of July
9 presidential polls.
Mr. Subianto was once one of In-
donesias most reviled men, accused
of kidnapping, human rights abuses
and a coup attempt after the 1998
overthrow of his former father-in-law,
the late President Suharto.
A New York Times report in March
said that in 2000 the US State De-
partment denied the former general
a visa to attend his sons university
graduation in Boston.
Indias Modi was denied a US visa
in 2005 under the terms of a 1998
US law which bars entry to foreigners
who have committed particularly
severe violations of religious free-
dom. He has been accused of links
to religious riots in his home state of
Gujarat in 2002 in which more than
1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died.
However, after Modis party swept
to victory last week, US President
Barack Obama was quick to tele-
phone his congratulations and invite
the new leader of a country he has
declared a vital partner. Reuters
Indonesia polls
present US with
visa headache
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S1/11
The
Nation
Anti-dynasty bill pushed
SENATE President Franklin M. Drilon
urged his colleagues in both cham-
bers to give the anti-political dynasty
bill a chance, citing the need for a
constructive debate over the pro-
posed measure. Mr. Drilon added
that the passage of the anti-political
dynasty bill is a tool to reform
the current political system in the
country. I believe the anti-political
dynasty law will signifcantly change
the political system in the country.
We have already done it with the pork
barrel. The Senate heard and acted
on the peoples clamor to abolish the
pork barrel and we shall do it again,
he said. The proposed legislation
seeks to limit the political power ex-
erted by political families by prohibit-
ing relatives up to the second degree
to run for both national and local
posts in successive, simultaneous or
overlapping terms.
Council formed
THE BACOLOD city council has ap-
proved an ordinance creating a body
that will promote the growth of mi-
cro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME). Bacolod Councilor Jocelle B.
Sigue, who authored the ordinance,
said the city government will allocate
P5 million a year to support the coun-
cils programs and operations. She
added that the MSME Development
Council will harmonize the initia-
tives of the city government and the
provincial government of Negros Oc-
cidental in the promotion of MSMES
here. With the creation of MSME
council, the expansion of programs
for training in entrepreneurship and
skills development for labor will be
intensifed and MSMEs in the city
are assured of a fair share of govern-
ment contracts, Ms. Sigue said.
Aid given
PROCTER & GAMBLE (P&G) Philip-
pines has set aside P30 million for
a project aimed at reviving 3,000
micro convenience stores affected
by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the
Visayas. Project Hope Stores, which
kicked off in December, is in its third
phase, which focuses on the construc-
tion of kiosks for store owners. The
company is also working with humani-
tarian organizations to carry out a
P12-million housing and power project
in fattened communities. Meanwhile,
World Vision New Zealand is set to
bring 6,000 packs of back-to-school
supplies to students in Tacloban,
Leyte in time for the opening of school
year in June, the Philippine Embassy
in Wellington reported to the Depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs (DFA). At pres-
ent, New Zealand has raised $1.38
million for World Vision New Zealands
petition to help rebuilding lives and
communities in Central Visayas.
Inquiry launched
THE DAVAO City council has
launched an inquiry to determine if
the Land Transportation Franchising
and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and
the Land Transportation Offce are
strictly implementing national cer-
tifcation for drivers of public utility
buses and heavy trucks in view of
the increasing number of accidents
involving these vehicles. Councilor
Leonardo Avila, chairman of the city
councils committee on transporta-
tion and communication, noted ac-
cidents in the city have continued
despite the issuance of Executive
Order No. 39, which sets speed
limits ranging from 30-60 kilometers
per hour depending on the part of
the city being traversed.
Subpoena sought
SENATOR Alan Peter S. Cayetano
yesterday said that the Senate Blue
Ribbon committee should issue a sub-
poena to the National Bureau of In-
vestigation (NBI) to submit pork barrel
scam whistle-blower Benhur K. Luys
digital records to the Senate. Mr. Luys
lawyer, Raymond Joseph Ian O. Men-
doza, said his client personally submit-
ted his hard drive containing digital
records and information in relation
to the PDAF transactions of alleged
mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to the
Cybercrime Division of the National
Bureau of Investigation for forensic ex-
amination and authentication. On May
19, Mr. Luys camp sent a letter to NBI
Director Virgilio L. Mendoza requesting
his offce to surrender the hard drive or
produce a copy of its digital contents
before the Senate blue ribbon commit-
tee. The hard drive contains Mr. Luys
records that he kept when he was still
an employee of Ms. Napoles under the
JLN Corporation.
BRIEFS
OIL REFINER and retailer Petron
Corp. expects to completely move
out of the Pandacan oil depot in
Manila by the end of next year,
a top ofcial told reporters late
Tuesday.
We have started to transfer
our depot to several areas, for ex-
ample Limay [in Bataan]; Rosario,
Cavite and Navotas [City], said
Petron Chairman and Chief Ex-
ecutive Ofcer Ramon S. Ang after
the companys annual stockhold-
ers meeting held in Pasig City.
By the end of 2015, we should
be totally out of Pandacan, he
added.
Mr. Ang said the company has
so far spent P15 billion for the
transfer of its storage facilities,
which is part of its commitment to
the government after various civic
groups raised concerns over the
Pandacan oil depots environmen-
tal and health risks.
Its a commitment that by early
2016, aalis na kami, Mr. Ang said.
Pandacan oil depot houses the
facilities of the three major fuel
retailers Petron, Pilipinas Shell
Petroleum Corp., and Chevron
Philippines, Inc. (formerly Caltex
Philippines).
It services around half of the
countrys fuel demand, 70% of the
shipping sectors oil needs, 90% of
lubricants and 75% of aviation fuel
requirements.
As early as 2009, concerns
were raised over the possible
impact of the facilitys continued
operations on residential areas
within the vicinity, as well as
the Pasig River. The Manila City
Council in August 2012 approved
Ordinance No. 8283, which re-
classifies the Pandacan district
to a high intensity commercial/
mixed zone from a heavy indus-
trial zone. It ordered oil com-
panies to relocate the operation
of their businesses by January
2016.
Besides Petron, the other two
oil rms have yet to move out of
Pandacan. Chevron said last year
its continued stay in the oil depot
was optimal for bringing its fuel
products closer to its market. Our
terminal has been operating in the
country for more than 80 years
with no major incident, the oil
firm said in 2012, as it pledged
that its operations would continue
to adhere to international safety
standards.
In 2012, former Energy secre-
tary Jose Rene D. Almendras said
relocating would entail higher
costs on the delivery of petroleum
products: I would prefer that the
depot remain where they are be-
cause there are logistics and costs
issues. Its very simple, you play
around with energy resources, you
will afect costs.
Petron, which currently has
2,200 service stations across
the country, saw profit grew by
1.23% to P2.225 billion in the rst
quarter from P2.198 billion last
year. Its revenues jumped 11.05%
to P126.021 billion from P113.482
billion while expenses climbed
11.31% to P122.986 billion from
P110.493 billion.
Shares of the company lost 16
centavos or 1.31% to end at P12.04
apiece yesterday from P12.20
apiece on Tuesday.
Petron out of Pandacan by end-2015
By Claire-Ann M. C. Feliciano
Senior Reporter
KORONADAL South Cotabato
health offcials will light candles
today for victims of human immuno-
defciency virus and acquired immune
defciency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and
for the 10 new cases reported in the
province this month.
John A. Codilla, focal person for
HIV/AIDS of the Provincial Integrated
Provincial Health Offce, told media
the commemoration event today
is part of a worldwide campaign
to raise public awareness of the
disease.
The 10 new cases, he said, are
are among the 71 local residents
who volunteered for testing in the
frst four months of 2014.
Those confrmed cases were rec-
ommended to undergo maintenance
treatments under the Department of
Health (DoH). Citing reports released
by National Epidemiology Center of the
DOH, Mr. Codilla said eight of the 10
new cases were confrmed in February.
Mr. Codilla said 32 infected
individuals in the province are cur-
rently undergoing antiretroviral drug
treatment at the DoHs designated
treatment hubs in Davao City. The
treatment only prevents the virus from
further spreading, Mr. Codilla said.
The provincial health offce has re-
corded nine deaths due to HIV/AIDS
complications since its frst recorded
case in 2003. Mr. Codilla said health
offcials, people living with the infec-
tion, HIV/AIDS advocates and other
members of civil society will gather
here for the commemoration.
This is part of our effort to edu-
cate the public about HIV/AIDS, he
said. At least 115 countries around
the world have organized candlelight
ceremonies this week for victims
with the theme Lets keep the light
on HIV.
Locally, our call is especially
for those involved in risky sexual
behavior to undergo HIV screening.
It is for free and we can facilitate
other concerns regarding HIV/AIDS if
they come to us, Mr. Codilla said.
Louie O. Pacardo
South Cotabato reports
10 new HIV/AIDS cases
and Awards Committee (SBAC)
in which the PPP Center has ob-
server status or via proper ling
with the courts.
This is separate from the other
bids and awards committees of
agencies, which are covered by
Republic Act (RA) 9184, or the
Government Procurement Re-
form Act.
NEDA Undersecretary Cosette
V. Canilao, the executive direc-
tor of the PPP Center, agreed that
regulatory agencies should not be
a contracting party in government
projects in order to preserve their
independence.
She also mentioned that while
there are government agencies
sharing some of the functions,
they are currently trying to change
the system through amendments
in RA 7718, or the Build-Operate-
Transfer (BOT) law.
There is an overlap for some
regulatory and contracting par-
ties. That is being proposed to be
separated in the BOT law amend-
ments, Ms. Canilao said in an e-
mail.
Ms. Canilao added that they
are planning to institutionalize
the role of the PPP Center as the
secretariat for the ICC committee
and the NEDA board to complete
its role as an efective facilitator.
LEGAL CHALLENGES
Infrastructure PPP projects face
a number of challenges over their
life cycle, such as regulatory fail-
ures, public budget risk, restricted
control and exibility on the as-
sets under the government, lack of
transparency in business and re-
negotiation of contract terms, and
these challenges can signicantly
alter the feasibility of projects,
Mr. De Almeida said.
He added that the decades-
long lifespan of some projects can
compound investors perceived
risks for returns, noting that in
emerging markets, about 6% of
PPP projects have experienced
distress or cancellation, and over
50% have involved subsequent
renegotiation.
Department of Transporta-
tion and Communication (DoTC)
spokesman Michael Arthur C.
Sagcal said that legal challenges
arise from private-sector bidders
desire to expand the scope, and
that changes to aspects of bids
during the auction process, such
as the various terms of reference,
are due to government factoring in
the bidders expertise.
We also learnt from LRT-1,
where DoTC crafted the terms
of the LRT-1 project to be more
advantageous to government, and
we found out that the bidders were
actually being very frank when
they told us we should change
some of the terms, adding that
the auction failed because the -
nancial terms made little sense
to them.
The project, known as the Light
Rail Transit Line-1 Cavite Exten-
sion, will be bid out on May 28
after a failed attempt in August
2013, where only one of four pre-
qualified bidders made a condi-
tional ofer.
The government has since
bundled rights to the design for a
Common Railway Station at the
northern end of EDSA with the
project to make it palatable to bid-
ders.
The Aquino government has so
far awarded seven projects costing
a total of some P62.6 billion under
its agship PPP Program, but it ap-
pears that all, save for two or three,
are not foolproof legally.
Of the seven awarded, only the
school building projects -- bid out
in two phases -- and the NAIA Ex-
pressway project have been spared
from protests by the losing bid-
ders, or from legal suits.
The awarding of the P1.72-
billion Automatic Fare Collection
System (AFCS) was questioned
both in court by a consumer group
and at the DoTC level by the losing
bidders.
Awarding of the P17.52 billion
Mactan-Cebu International Air-
port (MCIA) Passenger Terminal
Building project also hit snags
after second highest bidder Filin-
vest Development Corp.-Changi
Airports International MENA
Pte. Ltd. (FDC-CAI) questioned
top bidders, the tandem of GMR
Infrastructure, Ltd.-Megawide
Construction Corp., financial
capability and raised conict-of-
interest issues.
Questi ons f rom the San
Miguel-Citra group, particularly
SLEx concessionaire South Luzon
Tollroad Corp. (SLTC), meanwhile
stalled the completion of the
Daang Hari toll road, which was
awarded to Ayala Corp. in 2011.
A petition, meanwhile, was led
with the Supreme Court seeking
to stop the privatization of the
Philippine Orthopedic Center
(MPOC), also a PPP.
If done correctly, the PPP
model can ofer signicant advan-
tages to the governments, as well
as business and society. By better
allocating capacity, risks and in-
centives to the stakeholders, the
model can improve project selec-
tion, accelerate infrastructure
provision, optimize the costs and
utilities throughout the assets life
cycle, and bring more possibility
for innovation, Mr. De Almeida
noted. AJMS and Alden M.
Monzon
PPP,
S1/ 12
THE COMMISSION on Elections
(Comelec) yesterday upheld the
disqualication of Laguna Gover-
nor Emilio Ramon P. Ejercito for
overspending in the May 13, 2013
elections.
Acting on Mr. Ejercitos motion
for reconsideration, the Comelec
en banc, in a 23-page resolution
promulgated yesterday, unani-
mously afrmed the rst divisions
ruling in September last year,
which ordered Mr. Ejercito to va-
cate his post for violating the cap
on campaign spending for candi-
dates.
It is important to note at
this point, that [Mr.] Ejercito, in
his motion for reconsideration,
deliberately did not tackle the
merit and substance of the charges
against him. He limited himself
to raising procedural issues, the
resolution noted.
Therefore, there is no reason
for the Comelec en banc to disturb
the ndings of the Comelec First
Division on whether Ejercito in-
deed overspent in his campaign
for governorship of Laguna in the
13 May 2013 National and Local
Elections, it added.
The Comelec likewise ruled to
implement the Local Government
Codes provision on succession
whereby Vice- Governor Ramil
L. Hernandez would assume the
provinces top post.
Mr. Ejercito was disqualified
for exceeding the legal limits in
election spending for candidates
when the Comelec found the gov-
ernor spent P23.563 million in
television advertisements.
The Comelec found Mr. Ejer-
cito placed seven advertising spots
in ABS-CBN worth P3.366 million
each.
The said TV commercials alleg-
edly show Mr. Ejercito and his wife
Maita Sanchez (Girlie Ejercito in
real life) presenting the diferent
tourist attractions in Laguna. The
advertisements were allegedly
aired during the coronation night
of the 2013 Binibining Pilipinas
beauty pageant aired on Channel
2 on April 14.
The TV commercials also al-
legedly aired during the ABS-CBN
newscasts TV Patrol and Bandila.
Under the Fair Election Act,
political candidates are only al-
lowed to spend P3 for every reg-
istered voter in the constituency
where he or she is running.
Mr. Ejercito was only limited to
spending P4.577 million based on
the number of registered voters of
Laguna province.
The decision was based on a pe-
tition for disqualication led by
Edgar Egay S. San Luis, his rival
in the gubernatorial race during
the midterm elections. Mikhail
Franz E. Flores
Laguna governors
disqualication
upheld by Comelec
Probe promised
Senator Grace Poe, chair of
the committee on public in-
formation and mass media,
assures the son of Remate
correspondent Rubbie
Garcia (his face covered
by a scarf) and Confedera-
tion of ASEAN Journalists
President Benny Antiporda
(right) of the Senates com-
mitment to investigate and
enact legislation that can
prevent media killings. Ms.
Poe said the chamber will
look into the case of Gar-
cia, who was gunned down
in her house in Cavite, last
April 6.
PANDACAN oil depot houses the facilities of the three major fuel retailers Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and
Chevron Philippines, Inc. (formerly Caltex Philippines). Petron is expected to completely move out by early 2016, following concerns
over environmental and health risks.
BW FILE PHOTO
WORLD Economic Forum (WEF)
experts noted that the Public-Pri-
vate Partnership (PPP) program
of President Benigno S. C. Aquino
III touted by his administration
as an efcient solution to complet-
ing infrastructure projects is far
from perfect.
The government should ac-
tively pursue establishing a ro-
bust legal and institutional PPP
framework, with an independent
regulatory function and a trusted
dispute-resolution process to en-
hance regulatory commitment,
Pedro De Almeida, head of Infra-
structure and Urban Develop-
ment Industries, World Economic
Forum, told BusinessWorld in an
e-mail.
Mr. De Almeida added that PPP
is not a panacea to all the infra-
structure challenges, and that the
government should select the best
delivery model for infrastructure
projects after considering key
criteria such as funding basis,
popular perception, and market
competition.
Hanseul Kim, Associate Di-
rector and Head of Engineering
and Construction Industry of the
World Economic Forum, said that
the ideal setup would be to sepa-
rate the functions of the agencies
involved in PPP projects.
The point here is to establish
entities with separate authorities
(i.e. policy-making, contracting,
monitoring, and dispute resolu-
tion) with a clear governance
structure in order to avoid any
conflict of interests, and to have
clear responsibilities and compe-
tencies, Mr. Kim said in a sepa-
rate e-mail.
This way, authorities can be
independent from the political in-
uence or other externalities, and
be able to carry out long-term in-
frastructure plans, often over 10-
20 years, that generally exceeds
more volatile political duration,
he added.
In the Philippine context, the
contracting, implementation and
policy-making functions reside
with several diferent national line
agencies and government depart-
ments.
The reviewing and approving
bodies, depending on the costing
of the project, are the National
Economic and Development Au-
thority (NEDA) Board, the Invest-
ment Coordination Committee
(ICC) and the Local Development
Council.
The NEDA Board is chaired by
the President of the Philippines,
with the Socioeconomic planning
Secretary as Vice-Chairperson,
and counts as members the secre-
taries of Agriculture; Budget and
Management; Energy; Environ-
ment and Natural Resources; Fi-
nance; Interior and Local Govern-
ment; Public Works and Highways;
Science and Technology; Trade
and Industry; and Transportation
and Communications.
Other members include the
Vice President of the Philippines,
the governors of the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao and
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
the countrys central monetary
authority as well as the chair-
man of the Metro Manila Develop-
ment Authority.
The PPP Center, established on
Sept. 9, 2010by Executive Order No.
8, istheattachedagencyoftheNEDA
that monitors projects and coordi-
nates with implementing agencies
andother concernedparties.
Its previous incarnation was the
BOT Center, established by law in
1990 as an attached body of the De-
partment of Trade and Industry.
Dispute resolution, however,
is handled either by each imple-
menting agencys Special Bids
Thursday, May 22, 2014 12/S1
The
Nation
Asian leaders must commit to resolving disputes, IHS economist says
Independent body needed to regulate PPP
SHANGHAI/MANILA Viet-
nam and the Philippines are
determined to oppose Chinese
infringement of their territorial
waters, Vietnamese Prime Min-
ister Nguyen Tan Dung said on
Wednesday, calling on the world
to condemn Chinas actions in a
rare public show of unity bound to
infuriate Beijing.
China is embroiled in disputes
with Vietnam and the Philippines
over boundaries in the potentially
energy-rich South China Sea and
has said it seeks to resolve difer-
ences in one-on-one talks with the
countries involved.
The president and I shared the
deep concerns over the current
extremely dangerous situation
caused by Chinas many actions
that violate international law,
Mr. Dung said in a statement after
talks with Philippine President
Benigno S. C. Aquino III during
a two-day visit to Manila. ... In
particular, Chinas illegal place-
ment of the oil rig and deployment
of vessels to protect the rig deep
into Vietnams continental shelf
and exclusive economic zone have
seriously threatened peace, stabil-
ity, maritime security and safety,
and freedom of navigation in the
East Sea.
Mr. Aquino, meanwhile, said
that he was looking forward to
increased collaboration between
the respective defense agencies
of the Philippines and Vietnam.
We face common challenges as
maritime nations and as broth-
ers in ASEAN. I believe continued
cooperation between the Philip-
pines and Vietnam will enable us
to better protect our maritime
resources, as we pursue strategies
that will redound to the growth of
our respective peoples and of our
region, he said.
Anti-Chinese violence flared
in Vietnam last week after Chi-
nese state oil company CNOOC
deployed an oil rig 240 km. of the
coast of Vietnam in waters also
claimed by Hanoi.
ThePhilippines, meanwhile, pro-
tested Chinas reclamation of John-
sonSouthReef (saidtobeanairstrip
or a military base), its obstruction
of a Philippine ship that aims to
restock an outpost on Ayungin
Shoal, and Chinese activities in the
Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys
in recent years. Beijing brushed of
these protests on grounds that the
reef is part of Chineseterritory.
The two sides [the Philippines
and Vietnam] are determined to
oppose Chinas violations and
called on countries and the inter-
national community to continue
strongly condemning China and
demanding China immediately
end its violations, Mr. Dung said.
Prior to the joint statement,
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin
S. Lacierda urged China to sit down
withtheASEANcountriesandagree
to a binding code of conduct of par-
ties ontheSouthChinaSea(COC).
Malacaang maintained that the
visit of Vietnams Prime Minister is
not aimed at having the Philippines
and Vietnam gang up on China.
We hope that China would sit
down with ASEAN and discuss the
Declaration of the Code of Con-
duct. We are hoping that China
would... China has already stated
its position that it is willing to
work on the declaration but we
have... We dont have the latest
updates on that. But again, ASEAN
is prepared to speak to China, and
we hope that China will sit down
with ASEAN nations and move
the discussion on the declaration
further up, he said.
Aside from maritime defense
and security, Mr. Aquino and the
Vietnamese Prime Minister also
discussed cooperation in econo-
my, trade, investment and other
areas.
Mr. Dung committed to work
with the Philippines to attain the
$3-billion trade goal between the
two countries by 2016. At present,
Vietnam ranks 18th among the
Philippines top trading partners,
with total bilateral trade amount-
ing to $1.33 billion.
CHINESE PRESIDENTS
WARNING
Chinese President Xi Jinping
earlier appeared to warn some
Asian nations about strengthen-
ing military alliances to counter
China, saying this would not ben-
et regional security. To beef
up military alliances targeted at
a third party is not conducive to
maintaining common security in
the region, Xi said in a speech de-
livered at a regional conference in
Shanghai in front of Vietnamese
Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan,
as well as representatives from the
Philippines, Japan and more than
40 other countries and organiza-
tions. His remarks were given at a
meeting of the little-known Con-
ference on Interaction and Con-
dence Building Measures in Asia,
or CICA. Reuters with Imee
Charlee C. Delavin
Experts call for a robust legal and institutional framework
Violation of international maritime law cited
Vietnam, Philippines denounce China
ASIAN LEADERS must demonstrate
a stronger commitment to deesca-
lating tensions and need a formal
mechanism to work out disputes
before they begin to dampen eco-
nomic development, economist Rajiv
Biswas said.
Mr. Biswas, chief Asia-Pacifc
economist for IHS, a Colorado-based
global consulting and advisory frm
with country risk, security and en-
ergy practices, among others, said
Asia needs an actual institution
wherein these counties can have a
peaceful dialogue and discuss these
matters.
The economist made the
remarks in an interview given to
BusinessWorld on the sidelines of
the World Economic Forum (WEF)
meeting in Manila, which runs from
May 21-23.
When you look at the context of
what the WEF is trying to achieve, its
cooperation, dialogue among these
countries. And time its particularly
unfortunate that we have these ten-
sions. Theres a lot of geopolitical
issues and tension in the region, and
I think the focus is supposed to be
regional cooperation. Thats not hap-
pening here, Mr. Biswas said.
He held up the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
as an institution that has done well
in terms of providing a forum for
economic and political concerns in
their regular gatherings, adding that
no equivalent forum exists for East
Asia, much less the entire Asian
continent.
Asias seen huge economic
progress; ASEAN itself is such an
achievement. These tensions risk
taking the attention away from
cooperation and towards potential
situations which can have negative
impact on the outlook, he said.
There are signs economic activ-
ity, particularly trade and tourism,
has already been dampened by the
dispute between China and rival ter-
ritorial claimants like the Philippines,
Vietnam, and Japan, said Mr. Biswas.
WEF is about bringing people
together. We have to see how to
resolve things within a peaceful
framework, preventing bilateral con-
ficts, defusing tensions. There is a
need to link economic development
with these problems, because these
are standing in the way of making
progress in the region, he said.
There should be a transnational
government effort to bring interests
together on a political level, and not
only economic dialogue a kind of
cooperation where ministers come
together and say, were not going to
let things escalate, he said.
BRINGING IN CHINA
Mr. Biswas said there will be dif-
fculty getting China to agree to such
a framework but it is an important
country that must be brought into
the fold, perhaps with private-sector
help.
This is not the way forward
for Asia. This could be relevant in
the WEF. Find some partnership
between private sector and govern-
ment and say, look, this has to end.
What we need to focus on is build-
ing positive ties and cooperation.
If we want to stop being devel-
oping countries we must be more ma-
ture. Asia shouldnt have to have a
war to get that message, Mr. Biswas
added, noting that no strong leader
from the region has emerged to put
his name behind such an initiative.
China also has a lot to gain
from having peaceful relations and
being a leader for economic develop-
ment and on the economic side,
they are trying to do it, he said. But
the weakness of Chinas approach
lies in an apparent lack of connec-
tion between economic leadership
and foreign policy.
Chinas economic leaders have
done a great job engaging other
ASEAN and Asian partners in trade
and investment, but elsewhere
they dont connect the two things
together and say, weve done a great
job our economic ties with ASEAN,
but the political relationships are
like this. Its very counterproduc-
tive, added Mr. Biswas.
China not here (for the WEF
gathering), and that absence is no-
ticeable. These tensions, these will
create problems for the future. The
warning signs are there, he warned.
AFP
PHILIPPINE President Benigno S. C. Aquino III (R) delivers his speech beside Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during their joint press statement at the Malacaang
Presidential Palace in Manila on May 21
7
Philippines
World
Legend: S-Sunny; PS-Partly sunny; PC-Partly cloudy; CD-Cloudy; MC-Mostly cloudy; MS-Mostly
sunny; SH-Shower; R-Rain; SN-Snow; FG-Fog; FL-Flurries; T-Thunderstorm; W-Windy; HO-Hot
Note:Temperatures in Centigrade.
Source of Basic Data: Local - PAGASA; Global - Accuweather.com
DAILY WEATHER
Beijing Seoul
Bangkok
Hanoi
Hong Kong
Taipei
Manila
Kuala
Lumpur
Singapore
Jakarta
22 May 2014
Asia
SYNOPSIS: A ridge of high pressure will extend
over Luzon.
FORECAST: The whole country will have partly
cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or
thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.
City Lo Hi Sky
Bangkok 27 35 T
Beijing 23 35 S
Hanoi 29 39 PC
Hong Kong 26 30 R
Jakarta 24 33 T
Kuala Lumpur 24 31 T
Seoul 14 28 PC
Singapore 26 32 T
Taipei 23 26 R
Tokyo 15 23 SH
Philippines Lo Hi Sky
Metro Manila 25 35 PC
Baguio 16 26 PC
Tagaytay 23 33 PC
Clark Zone 26 36 PC
Metro Cebu 26 33 PC
Metro Davao 25 33 PC
High Tide (1.04 m) 2:30 p.m. Low Tide __
Sunrise 5:27 a.m. Sunset 6:18 p.m.
City Lo Hi Sky
Amsterdam 14 23 SH
Brisbane 15 24 PC
Chicago 12 26 PC
Frankfurt 16 28 T
Honolulu 22 29 S
Johannesburg 6 18 SH
Lisbon 11 19 SH
London 10 19 SH
Los Angeles 14 21 PC
Madrid 8 17 SH
Melbourne 14 22 SH
City Lo Hi Sky

Montreal 12 19 SH
Moscow 14 27 S
New York 13 21 T
Paris 10 20 SH
Riyadh 28 39 S
Rome 15 28 S
San Francisco 10 18 PC
Sydney 13 25 S
Vancouver 12 19 CD
Washington 14 29 T
Zurich 12 28 T
Tokyo
PPP, S1/ 11
AFP
PHILIPPINE policemen stand under a foot bridge with a signage of the World Economic
Forum (WEF) on East Asia on display along a street near the airport in Manila on May
21. The Philippines launches a high-profle sell of its surging economy as it welcomes
hundreds of business chiefs and government leaders for Asias edition of the World
Economic Forum.
By Bettina Faye V. Roc
Senior Reporter
SECURITY Bank Corp.s plan to
raise up to P10 billion through the
sale of Basel 3-compliant bonds
has gained the central banks ap-
proval, the lender yesterday told
the stock exchange.
Security Bank has received the
approval of the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas on the banks request to
issue up to P10 billion unsecured
subordinated notes, its brief dis-
closure to the Philippine Stock
Exchange read.
The bonds would qualify as
Tier 2 capital under Basel 3 rules,
Security Bank said. It added that
the notes have a maturity of 10
years but can be redeemed on the
fth year.
The Bank is in the process of
completing the requirements as
indicated in the BSPs approval
letter within the prescribed time-
lines before the date of ofering,
the disclosure noted.
The bank did not yet announce
a timetable for the issuance.
Security Bank - the countrys
10th largest in asset terms - earlier
said it will tap the market while
the nancial system is still awash
with cash to raise fresh capital
amid stringent rules.
In order to sustain the Banks
healthy Basel 3 total capital ade-
quacy ratio and support continued
business expansion, the Bank will
be capitalizing on the markets
robust liquidity and will be ad-
dressing the demand for viable
alternative investment instru-
ments, Security Bank said in the
March 25 press release.
As of the rst quarter, the banks
total capital adequacy ratio - a
measure of nancial health - stood
at 14%, above the 10% regulatory
minimum.
In December last year, the bank
retired Basel 2-compliant Lower
Tier 2 subordinated notes worth
P3 billion ahead of a 2018 maturity.
The bank saw its net income
rise 17% to P1.43 billion in the rst
quarter of this year - bucking an
industry-wide downturn - driven
by a 42% surge in interest income.
Basel 3 is a set of reforms
introduced by the Basel Com-
mittee on Banking Supervision
in the wake of the 2008 global
financial crisis. The BSP has
started implementing Basel 3
in January, ahead of a global
schedule.
The reforms aim to reduce the
risk of system-wide shocks remi-
niscent of the 2008 crisis, which
cost global central banks billions
worth of public funds used in bank
bailouts. To avoid that scenario,
holders of the Basel 3-compliant
bonds must bear losses before any
public funds are used to rescue
the bank. Raymund Luther B.
Aquino
P10-B bond sale okayed
THE PHILIPPINE Bank of Communica-
tions (PBCom) is one step closer to
entering the insurance business after
clearing a regulatory hurdle earlier
this month.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday,
PBCom said that the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) ap-
proved the incorporation of its wholly-
owned subsidiary - PBCom Insurance
Services Agency, Inc. (PISAI).
A digital copy of the certifcate of
incorporation, which was attached to
the disclosure, said that the articles of
incorporation and by-laws of PISAI have
been approved by SEC last May 9.
While the SEC approval grants ju-
ridical personality to the corporation,
however, PISAI still needs to acquire
secondary licenses from SEC to un-
dertake particular business activities
such as brokerage or dealing in secu-
rities and operating as an investment
house, the certifcate said.
PBCom did not provide details on
when PISAI will begin operations.
The bank frst announced its inten-
tion to be a player in the insurance
industry last January 30.
PBCom nears
deal to create
insurance unit
RISING territorial conicts in the
waters in Southeast Asia and po-
litical tensions in Thailand could
dampen strong growth in the re-
gion and hurt investments if left
unresolved, a senior ofcial of the
International Monetary Fund said
yesterday.
Ifthetensiongetshigher, itcould
have large impacts on the econo-
mies, especially in the case of this
regionwherethecountriesareinter-
connected through supply chains,
Naoyuki Shinohara, IMF deputy
managing director, told Reuters on
the sidelines of the WorldEconomic
ForumonEast AsiainManila.
So if the tension gets larger,
the negative impact could be
significant, depending on how it
develops, he said.
The IMF is closely watching the
situation, but there is no evidence
yet Southeast Asia economies
were being afected and it was too
early to revisit the Funds 2014
regional growth forecasts, Mr. Shi-
nohara said.
In April, the IMF said it expects
growth in developing Asia of 6.7%
this year, compared with 6.5% in
2013. It saw Southeast Asias ve
biggest countries posting growth
of 4.9% this year, slower than 5.2%
in 2013.
Except for Thailand, I do not
think we need to change the pro-
jection at the moment. There are
some geopolitical tensions, but
so far it hasnt had much impact
on the economic activities, Mr.
Shinohara said, adding it may
consider adjusting its forecast for
Thailand although the impact so
far of the months-long protests
was minor. Reuters
Geopolitical tensions
could hurt Asia growth,
investments IMF
No strong news
to drive peso
THE PESO barely moved against
the dollar yesterday as traders
in the absence of strong leads to
drive the currency market.
The peso closed at P43.78 per
dollar, three centavos weaker
than the previous close of P43.75
against the greenback.
Lackluster trading ahead of
the jobless claims data tomorrow -
days range just at P43.75-P43.83,
a trader interviewed by phone said
yesterday.
The trader noted opposing
tones from two [US] Fed ofcials,
leaving traders searching for di-
rection.
One was dovish while the
other one was hawkish, the trader
said, referring to an upbeat Phila-
delphia Fed President Charles I.
Plosser and a more cautious New
York Fed President William C.
Dudley, who both gave speeches
in the US before trading opened
yesterday.
MetisEtrade currency re-
search analyst Cherica Y. Vicente
noted that markets are also still
awaiting a more detailed record
of the FOMCs (Federal Open
Market Committee) meeting last
April.
The detailed record of the
FOMC Meeting will be released
before the market opens tomor-
row morning, Ms. Vicente said
yesterday.
This release will provide
insights on the US labor market
slack, wage rates and inflation
which can provide expectations
on the timing of monetary policy
changes, she explained.
The trader interviewed by
phone said that the local currency
would likely trade between P43.65
and P43.85 to the dollar today. PBCom, S2/ 3
AFP
Steady
Picture shows the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on May 21, 2014. Japans central bank policy board after a two-day
meeting unanimously agreed to keep its stimulus drive unchanged and said the economy was gathering speed, despite fears
that an April 1 sales tax rise will dent consumer spending.
S2/1-10
NEWS
UPDATED
DAILY
STOCK MARKET WORLD SPORTS BULLETINS ARTS & LEISURE SPECIAL FEATURE
www.bworldonline.com
Thursday, May 22, 2014
VOL XXVII ISSUE 207 ISSN0116-3930
Thursday, May 22, 2014 2/S2
Investors pause to take proft
SHARE PRICES yesterday snapped
a two-day rise, with the main index
tumbling back into 6,700 territory
for the rst time in eight sessions
as a sharp drop on Wall Street gave
investors the signal to book gains,
analysts said.
The benchmark Philippine Stock
Exchange index plunged 1.75% or
120.35 points its steepest drop
since a 2.15% dive on Feb. 4 to end
at 6,762.38.
The broader all-share index also
ended in the red, losing 69.68 points
or 1.70% to close 4,040.94.
A slump in US equities and an
early drop in Asian markets set the
tone for Wednesdays activity, not-
ed Justino B. Calaycay, Jr., analyst
at Accord Capital Equities Corp.
He said political tensions in
Thailand and some disappointing
corporate earnings reports at home
convinced investors it was time to
sell, especially with the local mar-
ket already trading near 52-week
highs and valuations remaining
above historical trends.
Wednesdays substantial re-
treat has wiped out an aggregated
10 days worth of trades that pro-
pelled the index to two intraday
breaches of the 6,900 line, Mr.
Calaycay added.
Manny P. Cruz, market strate-
gist at Asiasec Equities, Inc., said:
When the main index broke its
critical support at 6,850 in early
session, it prompted fund managers
to unload funds as they expected
further decline. The sharp drop in
Wall Street was also an added pull
factor.
Elizabeth S. Abadillo, analyst at
Angping & Associates, Inc., noted
[t]he steep drop on Wall Street en-
couraged investors to profit-take,
given that there were no fresh leads
locally to push the market further
up as earnings season is over, she
said.
Still, Ms. Abadillo pointed out
that foreigners were still on a buy-
ing mood, which indicated that
there is still an opportunity for the
market to recover.
Net foreign buying doubled on
Wednesday to 1.35 billion from
the previous days 633.55 million.
US equities tumbled on Tuesday,
as disappointing earnings in the
retail sector prompted a sell-off.
The Dow Jones industrial average
plunged 137.55 points or 0.83%
to settle at 16,374.31. The broader
Standard & Poors 500 index
slipped 12.25 points or 0.65% to
1,872.83, while tech-heavy Nasdaq
composite index dropped 28.92
points or 0.70% to 4,096.89.
In Asia, Japans Nikkei 225 in-
dex lost 33.08 points or 0.24% to
14,042.17; South Koreas KOSPI in-
dex slipped 2.93 points or 0.15% to
2,008.33; while Hong Kongs Hang
Seng index ended at at 22,836.52,
adding 1.84 points or 0.01%.
Lexter L. Azurin, research head
at Unicapital Securities, Inc., mean-
while, said: Wednesdays drop is a
long overdue correction given that
weve been on an upswing for the
past few months. The drop was just
mainly prot taking.
He noted investors sold shares
of SM Prime Holdings, Inc.; Met-
ropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Me-
trobank), SM Investments Corp.;
and Universal Robina Corp. (URC),
dragging the index by a combined
57 points. SM Prime fell 4.38% or
74 centavos to close 16.16 apiece
on Wednesday; Ty-led Metrobank
gave up 3.50 or 3.91% to 86; SM
Investments dropped 27 or 3.47%
to 750.50; while URC shares shed
5.20 or 3.35% to 149.80 each.
The markets weakness was
reected across all six sectoral in-
dices, which ended the day with
losses. A total of 2.03 billion shares
worth 9.06 billion changed hands
from Tuesdays 1.46 billion shares
worth 10.41 billion. Decliners
overwhelmed advancers, 148 to 44,
while 32 issues did not move.
We expect the market to drop
further towards the 6,680 support
on continued profit taking, Asia-
secs Mr. Cruz said, placing resis-
tance at 6,850. Judy Dannibelle
T. Chua Co
Banks
102.8 56.3 22,842 Asia United Bank Corp. 93,250 70.5 70.7 70.4 70.6 70.5 866,329
95.05 68.2 311,894 Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 6,463,670 88.3 88.3 86.7 87.1 88.7 15,563,398
103.91 80.95 344,992 Bank of the Phil. Islands 1,846,300 89.1 89.5 87.8 87.8 89 (133,205,964)
69.03 50.98 87,489 China Banking Corp. 151,990 55.5 55.6 55.05 55.05 55.5 527,614
36.5 23.25 34,642 East West Banking Corp. 173,400 31.3 31.3 30.25 30.7 31.2 1,213,630
106.15 70 236,053 MetroBank and Trust Co. 9,529,790 89.5 89.5 85.9 86 89.5 2,025,397
34.7 21.6 8,034 Philippine Business Bank 76,900 23.6 23.7 23.4 23.4 23.7 -
106.87 65.93 101,868 Philippine National Bank 1,477,450 90.7 91.85 90.3 91 91.95 15,765,030
145 119 32,915 Philippine Savings Bank 10 137 137 137 137 137 -
72 41 71,437 Rizal Commercial Banking 653,720 57 57.1 55.5 56 57 20,354,190
155.83 88.08 74,691 Security Bank Corp. 605,280 128 128 123.9 123.9 127.6 29,108,757
155 116.4 80,691 Union Bank of the Phils. 21,820 126.5 126.7 125.8 125.8 126.5 (759,557)

Other Financial Institutions
3.6 2.65 793 AG Finance, Inc. 13,000 3.03 3.03 3.03 3.03 3.03 -
3.15 0.95 4,081 Bright Kindle Res & Inves., Inc. 1,776,000 2.81 2.83 2.64 2.67 2.87 334,800
2.25 1.85 4,476 BDO Leasing & Fin., Inc. 9,000 2.07 2.08 2.07 2.07 2.08 -
20.3 15.1 7,077 COL Finl. Group, Inc. 77,100 15.8 15.8 15.1 15.1 15.8 (934,688)
0.87 0.75 1,038 First Abacus Financial 738,000 0.82 0.87 0.81 0.87 0.82 -
10.46 6.65 389 Filipino Fund, Inc. 3,500 7.74 7.75 7.74 7.75 7.75 -
2.98 2.4 1,533 I-Remit, Inc. 8,000 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 -
32.4 16.2 29,915 Macay Hldgs., Inc. 36,600 27.9 28 27.85 28 27.85 -
0.43 0.178 196 Medco Holdings 1,260,000 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 -
830 570 1,408,717 Manulife Financial Corp. 50 760 760 760 760 750 -
1.88 1.34 2,888 National Reinsurance Corp. 43,000 1.36 1.39 1.36 1.36 1.36 -
314 291.8 21,398 The Phil. Stock Exchange, Inc. 20,720 292 292 289.4 291.8 292 (899,738)
1,535 1,040 863,384 Sun Life Financial, Inc. 35 1,415 1,415 1,414 1,414 1,414 -

Electricity, Energy, Power & Water
2 1.22 11,199 Alsons Cons. Res., Inc. 4,519,000 1.8 1.81 1.76 1.78 1.8 3,580
42.25 31 270,797 Aboitiz Power Corp. 1,626,900 37.7 37.7 36.8 36.8 37.7 1,528,195
6.41 4.37 115,313 Energy Devt. (EDC) Corp. 18,965,100 6.18 6.18 6.13 6.15 6.17 24,640,503
23.9 12.4 66,605 First Gen Corp. 3,073,600 20.45 20.85 19.7 19.8 20.45 (3,003,226)
104.6 49 39,496 First Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 195,920 72.8 72.9 71.3 71.45 72.8 (4,598,128)
8.22 5.2 1,038 Calapan Ventures, Inc. 67,500 6.45 6.45 6.4 6.4 6.74 (51,840)
395 247 296,202 Manila Electric Co. 776,460 265 265 261 262.8 265 (11,789,870)
40.7 21.35 52,906 Manila Water Co. 1,347,500 26.4 26.5 26.1 26.25 26.4 15,710,290
16 11.7 112,876 Petron Corp. 7,746,500 12.22 12.3 11.98 12.04 12.2 35,032,640
7.99 4.35 8,644 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 24,500 6.1 6.15 6.05 6.05 6.05 -
2.79 1.4 11,722 Trans-Asia Oil and Energy 17,957,000 2.44 2.44 2.4 2.41 2.45 2,196,830

Food, Beverage & Tobacco
6.7 3.9 2,089 Agrinurture, Inc. 92,000 3.92 3.92 3.9 3.9 3.92 (136,500)
66.9 16 1,554 Central Azucarera De Tarlac 4,820 55 55 55 55 55 -
16 14.62 35,229 Century Pacifc Foods, Inc. 2,100,600 15.9 15.92 15.62 15.8 15.96 21,063,300
33.45 21.6 28,266 Del Monte Pacifc Ltd. 63,200 21.7 22 21.65 21.8 21.6 (492,835)
9.86 6.03 31,714 D and L Industries, Inc. 6,953,100 8.93 9.15 8.84 8.88 8.96 18,048,907
19.78 8.6 167,100 Emperador, Inc. 7,036,600 11.28 11.32 11.1 11.14 11.28 (46,963,750)
1.9 0.93 2,130 Alliance Select Foods Intl., Inc. 403,000 1.45 1.45 1.41 1.42 1.47 221,960
189.6 124.7 194,752 Jollibee Foods Corp. 503,260 188 188 185 185 189.6 36,581,670
39 10.7 8,684 Pancake House, Inc. 11,300 29.45 33.5 29.45 33.5 29.45 -
291 214.8 40,233 San Miguel Pure Foods Co., Inc. 97,100 240 241.4 239.8 241.4 240 18,107,300
6.42 4 17,176 Pepsi-Cola Products Phils. 861,000 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.65 4.68 (3,010,090)
7.72 1.65 5,765 Roxas and Co., Inc. 14,000 3.1 3.1 3 3 3.1 -
6.6 4.17 20,652 RFM Corp. 18,600 5.91 5.91 5.9 5.9 5.91 -
8.06 2.28 6,922 Roxas Hldgs., Inc. 186,200 7.8 7.8 7.5 7.61 7.8 -
0.151 0.118 270 Swift Foods, Inc. 280,000 0.141 0.149 0.14 0.149 0.15 -
155.5 105.5 326,789 Universal Robina Corp. 2,362,450 153 153.3 148.8 149.8 155 (63,088,289)
0.94 0.55 1,978 Vitarich Corp. 871,000 0.71 0.73 0.7 0.71 0.72 72,840
5.05 1.57 11,956 Victorias Milling Co. 4,155,000 4.75 5.1 4.68 5.05 4.79 3,876,410

Construction, Infrastructure & Allied Services
19.66 9.9 2,164 Asiabest Group Intl., Inc. 45,000 10.82 10.82 10.58 10.82 10.8 -
1.9 0.95 10,156 SE Asia Cement Hldgs. 1,369,000 1.48 1.48 1.4 1.45 1.5 231,200
2.8 0.86 1,721 Da Vinci Capital Hldgs., Inc. 3,969,000 1.67 1.69 1.5 1.53 1.7 466,900
15.4 9.2 11,483 EEI Corp. 641,300 11.32 11.32 11 11.08 11.34 (798,850)
15.68 12 95,362 Holcim Philippines, Inc. 181,600 14.7 14.8 14.62 14.78 14.7 2,366,572
12 8.55 57,073 Lafarge Republic, Inc. 934,300 9.98 10 9.74 9.8 9.96 -
16.69 10.1 21,311 Megawide Const. Corp. 309,300 13.16 13.26 12.82 12.92 13.12 -
15 10 2,597 Phinma Corp. 159,600 10 10.1 9.96 10 10.34 (1,197,722)
2.88 1.6 1,767 TKC Steel Corp. 59,000 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.88 1.8 (1,900)
2.14 1.3 870 Vulcan Industrial Corp. 1,309,000 1.48 1.48 1.45 1.45 1.48 -

Chemicals
4.31 2.62 5,598 Chemrez Technologies, Inc. 69,000 4.31 4.31 4.12 4.3 4.31 -
4.85 1.96 635 LMG Chemicals Corp. 26,000 3.18 3.28 3.18 3.28 3.2 -

Electrical Components & Equipment
17 12 3,979 Cirtek Hldgs. Phils. Corp. 1,200 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2 -
38 22.5 9,548 Concepcion Indl. Corp. 6,200 36.15 36.55 36.15 36.55 38 152,835
0.018 0.0098 1,845 Greenenergy Hldgs., Inc. 17,000,000 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 -
4.24 1.88 6,765 Integ. Micro-Electronics 7,000 4.15 4.15 4.14 4.14 4.2 -
0.67 0.32 505 Ionics, Inc. 311,000 0.55 0.6 0.55 0.59 0.59 -

Other Industrials
2.02 1.7 1,201 Splash Corp. 21,000 1.91 1.91 1.85 1.85 1.92 -

Holding Firms
4.45 1.5 1,592 Asia Amalgamated Hldgs. 20,000 2.01 2.01 1.99 1.99 2.2 -
0.57 0.46 1,657 AbaCore Capital Holdings,Inc. 5,296,000 0.54 0.54 0.51 0.52 0.54 -
688 500 387,007 Ayala Corp. 739,040 650 650 641 645.5 650 103,348,895
61.5 40 309,777 Aboitiz Equity Ventures 471,720 57 57 56.05 56.1 57 (10,611,619)
31.15 21.4 307,068 Alliance Global Group, Inc. 29,272,700 30 30.05 29.85 29.9 30.05 665,998,845
7.29 6.3 17,450 A. Soriano Corp. 118,700 7 7 6.98 6.98 7 628,200
2.29 1.65 2,132 Anglo-Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 54,000 1.8 1.83 1.78 1.83 1.83 -
1.98 0.99 651 ATN Hldgs., Inc. A 2,000 1.63 1.76 1.63 1.76 1.63 -
1.98 1.05 146 ATN Hldgs., Inc. B 87,000 1.72 1.83 1.66 1.83 1.84 -
16.42 7.48 69,387 Cosco Capital, Inc. 7,251,300 9.88 9.88 9.35 9.37 9.8 (11,040,760)
77.05 45.1 201,286 DMCI Hldgs., Inc. 1,285,360 78.05 78.45 74.8 75.8 77.05 20,972,218
6.7 4 45,469 Filinvest Devt. Corp. 57,000 4.9 4.92 4.88 4.88 4.82 -
0.225 0.15 302 Forum Pacifc, Inc. 770,000 0.15 0.165 0.15 0.164 0.15 -
888 690 147,981 GT Capital Hldgs., Inc. 55,340 850 850 833 849 842 4,997,085
8.98 5.7 3,819 House of Investments, Inc. 162,200 6.4 6.4 6.2 6.2 6.4 -
52.55 35 358,578 JG Summit Hldgs., Inc. 419,030 51.4 51.85 50 51.1 51.85 8,814,475
0.86 0.6 599 Lodestar Invest. Hldg. Corp. A 11,000 0.79 0.81 0.79 0.81 0.79 -
6.81 3.95 21,152 Lopez Hldgs. Corp. 3,023,000 4.71 4.71 4.61 4.61 4.72 (169,680)
26.25 13.32 155,828 LT Group,Inc. 20,154,100 14.9 14.98 14.3 14.4 14.68 (232,248,596)
0.73 0.5 816 Mabuhay Hldgs. Corp. 779,000 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.68 0.67 -
6.37 4.72 3,271 Minerales Industrias Corp. 164,000 4.8 4.8 4.69 4.74 4.8 -
6.29 4.1 134,882 Metro Pac. Inv. Corp. 27,933,700 5.25 5.28 5.18 5.18 5.3 5,099,588
0.047 0.027 1,560 Pacifca, Inc. 1,800,000 0.039 0.039 0.038 0.039 0.039 -
0.67 0.4 1,255 Prime Orion Phils., Inc. 1,575,000 0.55 0.55 0.53 0.53 0.56 -
2.16 1.23 697 Prime Media Hldgs., Inc. 50,000 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.9 -
2.15 1.04 2,532 Solid Group, Inc. 665,000 1.42 1.43 1.38 1.39 1.43 -
0.39 0.26 2,459 Sinophil Corp. 7,120,000 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.36 (130,500)
962.4 634 597,602 SM Investments Corp. 399,200 780 780 750.5 750.5 777.5 15,690,590
114 54.5 188,340 San Miguel Corp. 180,710 80.65 80.7 79.2 79.2 80.65 2,700,212
1.29 0.92 992 South China Resources 167,000 1.09 1.15 1.09 1.1 1.16 38,500
2.2 1.5 318 Seafront Resources Corp. 127,000 1.94 1.95 1.94 1.95 2.03 (9,700)
98.95 58.1 29,577 Top Frontier Inves. Hldgs., Inc. 5,860 89.45 89.45 88.2 88.85 88.7 85,511
0.26 0.136 358 Unioil Res. And Hldgs. Co. 830,000 0.23 0.23 0.225 0.225 0.23 -
0.26 0.169 615 Wellex Industries, Inc. 10,000 0.188 0.188 0.188 0.188 0.184 -
0.45 0.29 1,054 Zeus Hldgs., Inc. 1,140,000 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 -

Property
0.243 0.187 1,202 Arthaland Corp. 4,610,000 0.226 0.227 0.225 0.226 0.226 -
35.7 23.75 459,223 Ayala Land, Inc. 13,664,700 32.9 33.05 32.2 32.4 32.9 274,346,375
2.01 1.25 2,810 Araneta Properties, Inc. 214,000 1.82 1.82 1.8 1.8 1.89 91,000
6.68 4.46 60,928 Belle Corp. 1,719,900 5.91 5.92 5.75 5.77 5.92 1,432,415
2.02 1 2,513 A Brown Co., Inc. 47,000 1.4 1.45 1.4 1.45 1.45 -
1.18 0.98 3,810 Cityland Devt. Corp. 38,000 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.12 (14,560)
0.099 0.067 1,251 Crown Equities, Inc. 20,320,000 0.093 0.093 0.09 0.092 0.091 -
6.5 5 9,869 Cebu Hldgs., Inc. 864,800 5.14 5.2 5.14 5.14 5.17 4,287,382
2.13 1.14 13,850 Century Prop. Group, Inc. 3,288,000 1.43 1.45 1.42 1.43 1.43 505,790
0.87 0.47 4,833 Cyber Bay Corp. 20,996,000 0.76 0.77 0.71 0.71 0.76 (4,599,550)
1.11 0.9 14,383 Empire East Land, Inc. 2,969,000 0.99 0.99 0.98 0.98 0.99 -
0.34 0.177 1,350 Ever Gotesco Res. 2,070,000 0.26 0.28 0.26 0.27 0.26 -
2.18 1.18 38,557 Filinvest Land, Inc. 37,381,000 1.59 1.61 1.56 1.59 1.59 33,536,950
2.24 1.23 21,093 Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. 13,621,000 1.91 1.95 1.91 1.92 1.91 8,999,690
8.4 5.6 36,088 8990 Hldgs., Inc. 6,692,800 6.57 6.57 6.49 6.54 6.53 37,816,186
1.66 1.1 1,220 IRC Properties, Inc. 495,000 1.21 1.22 1.19 1.22 1.22 -
2.1 1.53 1,801 City and Land Developers 44,000 1.84 1.85 1.84 1.85 1.83 -
4.75 2.9 145,401 Megaworld Corp. 56,163,000 4.6 4.62 4.52 4.54 4.62 56,168,470
0.124 0.071 860 MRC Allied Industries, Inc. 11,500,000 0.104 0.104 0.1 0.101 0.105 -
0.55 0.33 499 Phil. Estates Corp. 710,000 0.35 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.34 -
4.1 2.52 815 Primex Corp. 8,000 2.64 2.66 2.64 2.66 3.2 -
24.95 18.86 92,111 Robinsons Land Corp. 3,059,900 22.55 23 22.4 22.5 22.55 10,708,370
0.73 0.4 3,200 Philippine Realty & Hldgs. 4,586,000 0.67 0.67 0.64 0.65 0.67 -
2.97 1.46 11,805 Rockwell Land Corp. 515,000 1.94 1.97 1.93 1.93 1.98 (89,240)
3.92 2.96 15,674 Shang Properties, Inc. 43,000 3.33 3.33 3.23 3.29 3.25 -
0.83 0.58 8,961 Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. 58,643,000 0.85 0.94 0.81 0.83 0.79 (525,000)
21.3 14.1 449,557 SM Prime Hldgs., Inc. 12,477,500 16.7 16.72 16.16 16.16 16.9 (64,181,262)
3.95 3.36 31,513 Starmalls, Inc. 10,000 3.5 3.77 3.48 3.74 3.74 -
1.95 0.57 3,038 Suntrust Home Dev., Inc. 992,000 1.41 1.41 1.34 1.35 1.39 2,800
6.8 4.4 53,538 Vista Land & Lifescapes 17,132,900 6.39 6.4 6.23 6.27 6.39 (22,840,369)

Media
45.7 27.4 32,228 ABS-CBN Corp. 43,200 38 38.1 37.6 37.6 38.1 -
9.5 7.2 25,813 GMA Network, Inc. 283,700 7.77 7.77 7.68 7.68 7.75 -
1.5 0.48 3,362 Manila Bulletin Pub. Corp. 601,000 1.11 1.11 1.06 1.06 1.1 -

Telecommunications
1,810 1,374 226,611 Globe Telecom, Inc. 35,935 1,760 1,760 1,708 1,708 1,740 16,680,345
3,190 2,582 623,105 Phil. Long Dis. Tel. Co. 166,775 2,910 2,912 2,870 2,884 2,890 192,178,890

Information Technology
8.88 3.72 1,202 DFNN, Inc. 297,000 7.7 8.07 7.7 8.01 7.7 -
0.054 0.026 191 Island Info. and Tech., Inc. 2,700,000 0.04 0.04 0.037 0.039 0.039 -
2.45 1.58 3,200 ISM Comm. Corp. 175,000 1.6 1.67 1.6 1.67 1.6 (72,000)
6.02 1.68 759 Jackstones, Inc. 1,115,000 3.75 4.86 3.75 4.53 3.65 19,100
0.57 0.35 982 Millenium Global Hldgs., Inc. 80,000 0.46 0.46 0.46 0.46 0.47 -
2.49 1.88 459 Transpacifc Broadband 1,000 2.07 2.07 2.07 2.07 1.88 -
15.8 5 7,335 Philweb Corp. 330,000 5.03 5.22 5.03 5.12 5.13 (249,309)
1.47 1.04 373 Yehey! Corp. 1,000 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.45 -

Transportation Services
3.12 1.5 6,971 2Go Group, Inc. 49,000 2.84 2.9 2.84 2.85 3 -
13.2 10 21,240 Asian Terminals, Inc. 1,100 11.34 11.34 10.62 10.62 11.3 -
82 46.05 32,964 Cebu Air, Inc. 130,790 54.3 55.3 54 54.4 54.3 224,725
112.6 77.8 226,207 Intl. Cont. Terml. Serv., Inc. 914,620 113 113 110.8 111.1 111.6 49,614,388
2.2 1.1 804 Lorenzo Shipping Corp. 2,000 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.5 -
4.19 1.9 2,689 Macroasia Corp. 674,000 2.23 2.29 2.09 2.18 2.22 -
6.96 5.15 135,359 PAL Hldgs., Inc. 56,000 5.46 5.55 5.45 5.45 5.6 -
1.91 1.21 1,065 Harbor Star Shipping Serv., Inc. 1,152,000 1.8 1.81 1.76 1.76 1.81 -

Hotel & Leisure
1.35 0.99 438 Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corp. 37,000 1.26 1.29 1.21 1.27 1.26 -
0.178 0.112 1,608 Boulevard Hldgs., Inc. 34,760,000 0.135 0.137 0.133 0.134 0.136 175,300
3 1.75 1,308 Discovery WorldCorp. 38,000 2.01 2.11 2 2.09 2.1 (6,300)
0.41 0.31 800 Waterfront Philippines, Inc. 510,000 0.32 0.33 0.31 0.32 0.32 (6,200)

Education
12 10.14 4,193 Centro Escolar University 1,600 11.26 11.26 11.26 11.26 10.5 -
1,275 1,103 15,242 Far Eastern University 105 1,103 1,110 1,103 1,110 1,105 (5,515)
12.5 10.5 8,628 iPeople, Inc. 2,500 11.52 11.52 11.52 11.52 11.8 -
0.99 0.59 7,032 STI Educ. Systems Hldgs., Inc. 2,299,000 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.72 357,150

Casinos & Gaming
13.06 8.3 124,748 Bloomberry Resorts Corp. 2,759,600 12 12.2 11.68 11.78 12 9,568,380
0.021 0.012 390 IP E-Game Vent., Inc. 5,300,000 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.014 -
17.32 14.5 4,192 Pacifc Online Sys. Corp. 962,600 15 15.14 15 15.1 15 -
8.3 5.85 9,179 Leisure and Resorts Corp. 153,800 7.78 7.95 7.65 7.65 7.7 37,780
14.4 7.6 57,188 Melco Crown Resorts Corp. 1,371,500 13.4 13.4 12.84 12.92 13.52 (503,564)
2.4 1.63 1,755 Manila Jockey Club, Inc. 53,000 1.8 1.85 1.8 1.85 1.8 (90,650)
0.54 0.25 894 Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. 89,526,000 0.51 0.59 0.48 0.49 0.51 962,800
11.34 8.71 142,591 Travellers Intl. Hotel Grp., Inc. 1,411,300 9.3 9.3 9.01 9.05 9.29 961,714

Retail
4.19 2.98 1,166 Calata Corp. 167,000 3.35 3.35 3.21 3.24 3.26 (3,350)
48.15 33.75 115,083 Puregold Price Club, Inc 4,642,100 42.45 42.7 41.6 41.6 42.45 72,081,745
71.6 50 91,826 Robinsons Retail Hldgs., Inc. 1,467,290 69.4 69.9 66.1 66.3 69.75 (31,899,910)
120.87 78.26 42,864 Philippine Seven Corp. 1,330 98 98 93.5 93.5 94.05 46,750

Other Services
0.85 0.6 4,953 APC Group, Inc. 5,258,000 0.67 0.68 0.65 0.66 0.68 -
0.47 0.35 514 Now Corp. 110,000 0.39 0.39 0.38 0.39 0.39 -
2.78 1.85 2,894 Paxys, Inc. 185,000 2.5 2.55 2.48 2.52 2.55 -

Mining
24.35 17 45,505 Atok-Big Wedge Co., Inc. 1,100 15.6 17.88 15.6 17.88 17.9 -
3.98 1.72 5,643 Apex Mining Co., Inc. A 30,000 3.02 3.03 3.02 3.02 3.1 -
0.0055 0.0029 842 Abra Mng. and Indl. Corp. 265,000,000 0.0046 0.0046 0.0046 0.0046 0.0047 -
19.18 11.68 28,775 Atlas Cons. Mng. & Devt. 1,227,600 14.9 14.96 13.82 13.86 14.9 (1,459,338)
14.5 6.2 1,080 Benguet Corp. A 58,400 9.1 9.35 9.1 9.2 9.35 -
14.6 6.25 700 Benguet Corp. B 34,100 9.45 9.45 9.01 9.02 9 -
1.6 0.78 6,160 Coal Asia Holdings, Inc. 102,335,000 1.7 1.73 1.49 1.54 1.6 77,440
1.11 0.5 2,510 Century Peak Metals Hldgs. 6,312,000 0.97 1.01 0.89 0.89 0.97 89,000
9.96 4.95 704 Dizon Copper Silver Mines 51,000 9.2 9.2 8.85 8.91 9.1 (126,885)
0.49 0.4 1,470 GEOGRACE Res. Phils., Inc. 930,000 0.41 0.42 0.41 0.42 0.42 -
0.78 0.3 10,304 Lepanto Cons. Mng. A 34,500,000 0.41 0.41 0.4 0.4 0.41 -
0.82 0.29 7,304 Lepanto Cons. Mng. B 1,200,000 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 (8,400)
0.0444 0.0109 2,954 Manila Mining Corp. A 512,700,000 0.019 0.02 0.018 0.019 0.019 -
0.0452 0.0124 2,072 Manila Mining Corp. B 27,100,000 0.021 0.021 0.02 0.02 0.021 (100,000)
5.25 1.56 8,415 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 3,395,000 4.78 4.8 4.57 4.62 4.78 -
3.85 1.49 2,575 Nihao Min. Resources 2,060,000 2.95 2.95 2.79 2.82 2.91 129,780
28.6 14.28 68,832 Nickel Asia Corp. 2,150,900 28.5 28.5 27.1 27.25 28.55 20,002,400
0.56 0.22 420 Omico Corp. 20,000 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 -
2.4 1.16 3,006 Oriental Peninsula Res. 2,723,000 2.11 2.15 2.02 2.07 2.13 (129,500)
14.2 7.85 45,371 Philex Mining Corp. 932,700 9.2 9.34 9.11 9.19 9.3 5,109,682
419 229 138,938 Semirara Mining Corp. 251,070 397 397 389 390 398 (20,063,204)
0.016 0.0087 2,874 United Paragon Mng. Co. 78,500,000 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.012 -

Oil
0.28 0.225 657 Basic Energy Corp. 1,090,000 0.27 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.27 (132,600)
0.025 0.017 2,160 Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. A 51,800,000 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.019 -
0.025 0.018 1,520 Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. B 50,000,000 0.019 0.019 0.019 0.019 0.019 -
0.044 0.034 7,099 The Philodrill Corp. 133,700,000 0.038 0.038 0.037 0.037 0.038 -
7 5.4 1,711 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 363,200 6.08 6.32 6.08 6.25 6 -
20.3 7.6 15,385 Philex Petroleum Corp. 142,800 9.3 9.3 9.05 9.05 9 -

Preferred
48.1 26.4 12,063 ABS-CBN Hldgs. Corp. 500,000 37.95 37.95 37.45 37.5 38.5 60,565
538 514.5 10,500 Ayala Corp. Pref. B 2,000 525 525 525 525 528 -
117 108 14,713 First Gen Corp. Pref. G 590 110 110 110 110 111 -
10 7.1 6,509 GMA Hldgs., Inc. 107,800 7.6 7.6 7.58 7.59 7.6 197,080
1.14 0.99 1,650 Leisure & Resorts World-Pref. 54,000 1.01 1.01 1 1 1 -
112 104.5 10,500 Petron Corp. Perpetual Pref. 105,060 105 105 104.8 105 105 -
79.95 74.7 54,761 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-A Pref. 401,590 75.65 75.95 75.65 75.95 75.65 -
82 75 7,044 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-B Pref. 8,420 78 78 77.9 77.9 78 -
84 75.5 20,700 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-C Pref. 7,730 80.6 81 80.6 81 80.5 -

Warrants, Phil. Deposit Receipts, Etc.
1.32 0.08 92 Leisure & Resorts World-Wrnts. 613,000 1.14 1.15 1.12 1.12 1.12 23,520
3.74 1.21 705 Megaworld Corp.- Warrants1 147,000 3.55 3.55 3.52 3.52 3.68 -
4 2.2 45 Megaworld Corp.- Warrants2 5,000 3.43 3.43 3.43 3.43 3.5 -

Small and Medium Enterprises
9.5 3 19,577 DoubleDragon Prop. Corp. 24,951,000 9.23 9.3 8.45 8.78 9.22 785,256
21.45 7.6 294 iRipple, Inc. 10,300 18 18.9 17.2 18.9 18.8 -

Exchange Traded Funds
111 94.5 839 First Metro Phil. Equity ETF 5,420 110 110.5 109 109 111 -
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PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
Provided by: Technistock
52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign
High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)
Buy(sell)
Stock
Code
52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign
High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)
Buy(sell)
Stock
Code
EVER
FLI
GERI
HOUSE
IRC
LAND
MEG
MRC
PHES
PRMX
RLC
RLT
ROCK
SHNG
SLI
SMPH
STR
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SMC2C
LRW
MEGW1
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DD
RPL
FMETF
Stocks Volume Stocks Value
Manila Mining Corp. A 512,700,000 Alliance Global Group, Inc. 876,535,700
Abra Mining and Industrial Corp. 265,000,000 Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. 827,867,733
The Philodrill Corp. 133,700,000 Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 565,100,394
Coal Asia Holdings, Inc. 102,335,000 Phil. Long Distance Telephone Co. 482,088,810
Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. 89,526,000 Ayala Corp. 477,877,160
United Paragon Mining Corp. 78,500,000 Ayala Land, Inc. 445,769,700
Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. 58,643,000 Universal Robina Corp. 356,215,706
Megaworld Corp. 56,163,000 SM Investments Corp. 305,283,000
Oriental Pet. and Minerals Corp. A 51,800,000 LT Group, Inc. 293,482,588
Oriental Pet. and Minerals Corp. B 50,000,000 Megaworld Corp. 256,274,060
Stocks Volume Close Net %
Jackstones, Inc. 1,115,000 4.53 0.880 24.11%
Pancake House, Inc. 11,300 33.5 4.050 13.75%
Transpacifc Broadband Group Intl., Inc. 1,000 2.07 0.190 10.11%
Forum Pacifc, Inc. 770,000 0.164 0.014 9.33%
ATN Holdings, Inc. A 2,000 1.76 0.130 7.98%
Centro Escolar University 1,600 11.26 0.760 7.24%
First Abacus Financial Holdings Corp. 738,000 0.87 0.050 6.10%
Ever Gotesco Resources and Holdings, Inc. 2,070,000 0.27 0.015 5.88%
Victorias Milling Co., Inc. 4,155,000 5.05 0.260 5.43%
Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. 58,643,000 0.83 0.040 5.06%


Stocks Volume Close Net %
Primex Corp. 8,000 2.66 -0.540 -16.88%
Da Vinci Capital Holdings, Inc. 3,969,000 1.53 -0.170 -10.00%
Asia Amalgamated Holdings Corp. 20,000 1.99 -0.210 -9.55%
United Paragon Mining Corp. 78,500,000 0.011 -0.001 -8.33%
Century Peak Metals Holdings Corp. 6,312,000 0.89 -0.080 -8.25%
Yehey! Corp. 1,000 1.34 -0.110 -7.59%
IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. 5,300,000 0.013 -0.001 -7.14%
Atlas Cons. Mining and Devt. Corp. 1,227,600 13.86 -1.040 -6.98%
Bright Kindle Res. and Investments, Inc. 1,776,000 2.67 -0.200 -6.97%
Cyber Bay Corp. 20,996,000 0.71 -0.050 -6.58%
LAGGARDS
TOP 10 IN VOLUME TOP 10 IN VALUE
LEADERS
OPEN HIGH LOW

Financial 1,621.62 1,622.60 1,590.71
Industrial 10,433.43 10,433.43 10,233.59 ODD LOTS VOLUME : 741,876
Holding Firms 6,221.74 6,227.86 6,097.84 ODD LOTS VALUE : 200,000.95
Property 2,756.57 2,756.57 2,693.07
Services 2,055.30 2,060.54 2,029.87
Mining & Oil 16,182.68 16,191.67 15,728.32 TOTAL FOREIGN BUYING : 5,329,700,853.45
All Shares 4,111.45 4,111.45 4,039.37 TOTAL FOREIGN SELLING: 3,976,561,117.25
PSEi 6,885.88 6,885.88 6,759.49
PSE TURNOVER AND AVERAGES
Volume Value (P) Close Pt. Change

Financial 25,329,414 1,865,294,415.99 Financial 1,590.71 down (32.53)
Industrial 109,855,253 1,479,020,946.29 Industrial 10,238.01 down (195.42)
Holding Firms 114,617,180 2,495,337,323.74 Holding Firms 6,113.39 down (109.54)
Property 310,042,596 1,406,765,139.86 Property 2,698.42 down (58.15)
Services 161,919,804 1,177,572,325.74 Services 2,032.80 down (15.29)
Mining & Oil 1,278,918,831 418,467,874.27 Mining & Oil 15,735.67 down (448.34)
SME 24,961,540 219,361,043.60 All Shares 4,040.94 down (69.68)
ETF 5,420 595,702.00 PSEi 6,762.38 down (120.35)

Grand Total 2,025,650,038 9,062,414,771.49 Advances 44 Declines 148 Unchanged 32
COMPANY STOCK CASH EX-DATE RECORD PAYABLE
DIVIDEND UPDATE
SCHEDULE OF MEETING
Date Company Time & Place
May
23 Pacifc Online Systems Corp. (Annual) 2:00 p.m. Midas Hotel, Pasay City,
Metro Manila
23 Union Bank of the Phils. (Annual) 1:00 p.m. 7
th
Flr., Marco Polo Ortigas, Meralco Ave. &
Sapphire St., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
NOTE: These schedules are subject to change without any further notice.
PLDT 71,043 $66.84 $66.25 $66.60 ($0.27)
MANULIFE FINL. CORP. 1,225,922 $18.31 $18.04 $18.19 ($0.15)
SUN LIFE FINL. SERV. 129,080 $34.15 $33.55 $33.69 ($0.34)
Volume High Low Close Change MAY 20, 2014
RP ABROAD
source: PSE
Semirara Mining Corp. P12.00 12-May-14 15-May-14 28-May-14
Jollibee Foods Corp P0.75 05-May-14 08-May-14 30-May-14
Security Bank Corp. P1.00 02-May-14 07-May-14 02-Jun-14
MUTUAL FUNDS
NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D
per share Return % Return % Return % Return %
NOTE: * NAVPS as of the previous banking day; ** NAVPS as of two banking days ago;
*** Listed in the PSE
(1)
- YTD return generated fromInception Date of February 7, 2014..
Source: PIFA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
STOCK FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. * 254.07 -4.99% 10.91% 22.14% 16.78%
ATRKE Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 1.385 -6.57% 7.79% 4.88% 13.26%
ATRKE Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 4.1592 -3.99% 13.78% 22.06% 13.28%
First Metro Save & Learn Equity Fund, Inc. * 5.2981 -7.83% 14.9% 25.13% 11.64%
Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. * 528.89 -12.61% 10.81% 21.53% 15.17%
Philequity Dividend Yield Fund., Inc. *
(1)
1.1324 n.a. n.a. n.a. 17.59%
Philequity Fund, Inc. * 34.1323 -3.15% 17.82% 27.44% 18.1%
Philequity PSE Index Fund, Inc. * 4.5933 -1.58% 18.05% 24.67% 16.35%
Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. * 769.52 -4.68% 17.94% 24.75% 17.49%
Sun Life Prosperity Phil. Equity Fund, Inc. * 3.9163 -10.14% 12.76% 21.05% 12.82%
United Fund, Inc.* 3.2471 -14.73% 5.66% 10.04% 12.14%
Exchange Traded Fund
First Metro Phil. Equity ExchangeTraded Fund, Inc. * *** 110.7849 n.a. n.a. n.a. 17.57%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ATR KimEng Asia Plus Recovery Fund, Inc. ** $0.965 -5.29% -6.12% n.a. 0.45%
BALANCED FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ATRKE Phil. Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.2637 -1.59% 12.46% 16.69% 7.68%
Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund, Inc.* 1.9686 -4.04% 10.74% n.a. 9.73%
First Metro Save & Learn Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.8519 -8.75% 13.15% 22.62% 6.25%
NCM Mutual Funds of the Phils., Inc. * 1.8219 -13.96% 7.83% n.a. 11.24%
One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.* 1.0019 n.a. n.a. n.a. 4.25%
Optima Balanced Fund, Inc. * 1.8737 -2.25% 14.65% 17.18% 7.55%
PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. * 3.6534 -15.19% 6.77% 16.83% 12.07%
Philam Fund, Inc. * 16.436 -14.73% 8.3% 17.77% 11.11%
Sun Life Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. * 3.6278 -11.05% 10.02% 14.96% 7.79%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. * $0.03405 -0.73% 3.85% n.a. 5.03%
PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. * $1.016 -5.44% -0.63% n.a. 1.48%
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. * $3.2203 5.65% 5.76% 5.14% 0.7%
BOND FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 313.26 -2.77% 5.63% 5.69% -0.19%
Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.3452 4.66% 6.73% 8.74% 1.93%
Ekklesia Mutual Fund, Inc. * 1.9881 -5.13% 8.33% 6.66% -0.29%
First Metro Save & Learn Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.1609 -0.33% 13.25% 11.09% -2.04%
Grepalife Bond Fund Corp. 1.3373 -10.25% 4.98% n.a. -2.53%
Philam Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.9173 -9.35% 7.62% 6.6% -0.67%
Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.4381 -5.58% 9.77% 8.48% -0.06%
Prudentialife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 1.9408 1.01% 7.55% 5.34% 0.39%
Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. * 2.6569 -6.67% 6.05% 5.93% -0.54%
Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. * 1.5065 -8.12% 4.95% 5.69% -0.8%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $398.21 -0.57% 4.1% 4.67% 3.32%
ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. * 200.92 1.8% 4.52% 4.02% 2.19%
ATR KimEng Total Return Bond Fund, Inc. ** $1.0566 -1.75% 1.86% n.a. 3.18%
Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. $1.6589 -1.2% 6.01% 6.7% 3.77%
Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. P1.5916 -13.88% 4.2% 5.13% -2.39%
MAA Privilege Dollar Fixed Income Fund, Inc. $1.2887 -10.85% -0.45% -0.03% 4.24%
MAA Privilege Euro Fixed Income Fund, Inc. 0.0276 n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.22%
PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc. * $1.2001 2.43% -0.19% 1.84% 3.14%
Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $2.0019 -2.87% 3.25% 5.2% 5.36%
Philequity Dollar Income Fund, Inc. * $0.0537863 -89.91% 4.81% 6.04% 3.63%
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. * $2.7126 -6.82% 2.32% 4.25% 2.79%
MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. * 112.19 1.01% 2.67% n.a. 0.35%
First Metro Save & Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. * 1.0736 0.11% 1.29% 1.41% -0.01%
Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. * 1.1515 -0.05% 1.33% 1.47% -0.06%
Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. * 1.1256 -0.5% 0.06% 0.33% 0.02%
FINANCIAL: 1,590.71 ALL SHARES: 4,040.94 PSEI: 6,762.38
D J F M A M
INDUSTRIAL: 10,238.01 PROPERTY: 2,698.42 MINING & OIL: 15,735.67
PHILIPPINE INDEX CHARTS
D J F M A M D J F M A M
D J F M A M D J F M A M D J F M A M
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
195.42 58.15 448.34
120.35 69.68 32.53
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S2/3
Banking&Finance
PBCom,
S2/ 1
N
o
w

a
v
a
i
l
a
b
l
e
!
Call
535-9901
loc 252 or 255
for inquiries and
bulk orders
In a disclosure to the PSE then,
PBCom said its board of directors ap-
proved the entry of the bank into the
wealth insurance business through
the incorporation of a wholly owned
subsidiary.
The approval comes as the bank
steadily fxes its fnances, although its
frst quarter earnings were dragged
by an industry-wide slump in trading
gains as interest rates come off
record lows.
PBComs net income fell 94.78%
to P37.377 million in the frst quarter.
The banks capital adequacy ratio
- a measure of fnancial health - was
at 10.80% as of March, lower than
the 16.18% reported in December
but still above the 10% minimum
required by the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas.
PBCom exited government aid in
March after fully paying P7.6 billion
to the Philippine Deposit Insurance
Corp., 10 years after getting that life-
line from the state deposit insurer.
The bank has license from the
BSP to build 36 new branches, on
top of the 10 already approved by the
central bank last year.
The bank also acquired the Rural
Bank of Nagcarlan Inc. and BancoDi-
polog, Inc. earlier this year.
As of March, PBCom had a total net-
work of 69 branches after opening new
branches in Baguio, Cebu Business
Park and Calamba in Laguna the past
quarter. Raymund Luther B. Aquino
LONDON Some Bank of Eng-
land (BoE) policy makers think
the case for raising interest rates
is becoming stronger as Britains
economy gets closer to operating
at full steam, minutes of their last
meeting showed on Wednesday.
For some members, the mon-
etary policy decision was becom-
ing more balanced, the minutes
for May 7-8 said.
In terms of the immediate
policy decision, however, all mem-
bers agreed ... it would be neces-
sary to see more evidence of slack
reducing before an increase in
Bank Rate would be warranted,
the minutes said.
BoE Governor Mark Carney
said last week that the economy
had edged closer to the time
when the central bank would need
to raise interest rates.
Figures on Wednesday, for ex-
ample, showed retail sales jumped
by their biggest amount since May
2004 - aided in part by a late Eas-
ter.
The debate is clearly shift-
ing in favour of moving rates in
the not too distant future, said
George Buckley, UK economist at
Deutsche Bank.
Sterling hit a 5-1/2 year high
on a trade-weighted basis after
the BoE minutes and the retail
data, and British government
bond prices fell. This caused the
premium that 10-year gilts offer
over German government bonds
to spike around 3 basis points to
128.8 basis points - its highest
since the third quarter of 1998.
There is increasing concern at
the bank and elsewhere that Brit-
ish house prices are rising too far
too fast. The bank said low rates
could distort the property market.
House prices are up almost
10% nationally in the year to date,
and on Tuesday Lloyds Banking
Groupsaid it would stop lending at
multiples above four times a bor-
rowers income for mortgages of
over 500,000 pounds ($842,400)
in order to reduce its exposure to
London, where prices are rising
fastest.
The BoE said that its Financial
Policy Committee could tackle the
housing issue when it meets next
month, and that the decision on
when to raise interest rates would
be driven by a judgement on how
much spare capacity remained in
Britains economy, which is grow-
ing at its fastest pace in years.
BoE forecasts last week showed
that a rate rise in around a year
would be consistent with keeping
inflation just below the central
banks 2% target.
But some economists expect
a minority of MPC members to
start voting for a rate rise soon,
and Wednesdays minutes suggest
this could be on its way.
Adding to the mix, three new
policymakers will join the Mon-
etary Policy Committee in the
next three months - Andy Hal-
dane, currently the BoEs execu-
tive director for nancial stability,
former White House adviser and
U.S. academic Kristin Forbes and
Nemat Shafik from the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund.
GRADUAL RATE RISES
The BoE reiterated that it would
only raise rates gradually, and to
a level that was lower than be-
fore the nancial crisis, but some
policymakers saw this as a reason
to raise rates sooner rather than
later.
It could be argued that the
more gradual the intended rise
in Bank Rate, the earlier it might
be necessary to start tightening
policy, the minutes said.
On the other hand, a premature
rate rise could choke of growth,
policymakers said. Reuters
BoE closer
to hiking rates
PESO CROSS RATES
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
source: BSP
Phil Aussie Bahrain Canadian HKong Japan Saudi Spore Swiss UK US EMU
one unit of currency peso dollar dinar dollar dollar yen rial dollar franc pound dollar euro
Philippines 1.0000 0.0247 0.0086 0.0249 0.1773 2.3159 0.0858 0.0286 0.0204 0.0136 0.0229 0.0167
Australia 40.5001 1.0000 0.3492 1.0094 7.1799 93.7937 3.4737 1.1598 0.8262 0.5499 0.9262 0.6759
Bahrain 115.9925 2.8640 1.0000 2.8911 20.5631 268.6255 9.9486 3.3216 2.3661 1.5749 2.6526 1.9359
Canada 40.1211 0.9906 0.3459 1.0000 7.1127 92.9159 3.4412 1.1489 0.8184 0.5447 0.9175 0.6696
Hong Kong 5.6408 0.1393 0.0486 0.1406 1.0000 13.0635 0.4838 0.1615 0.1151 0.0766 0.1290 0.0941
Japan 0.4318 0.0107 0.0037 0.0108 0.0765 1.0000 0.0370 0.0124 0.0088 0.0059 0.0099 0.0072
Saudi Arabia 11.6592 0.2879 0.1005 0.2906 2.0669 27.0014 1.0000 0.3339 0.2378 0.1583 0.2666 0.1946
Singapore 34.9209 0.8622 0.3011 0.8704 6.1908 80.8729 2.9951 1.0000 0.7123 0.4741 0.7986 0.5828
Switzerland 49.0224 1.2104 0.4226 1.2219 8.6907 113.5303 4.2046 1.4038 1.0000 0.6656 1.1211 0.8182
United Kingdom 73.6511 1.8185 0.6350 1.8357 13.0569 170.5676 6.3170 2.1091 1.5024 1.0000 1.6843 1.2292
United States 43.7280 1.0797 0.3770 1.0899 7.7521 101.2691 3.7505 1.2522 0.8920 0.5937 1.0000 0.7298
EMU 59.9161 1.4794 0.5166 1.4934 10.6219 138.7589 5.1390 1.7158 1.2222 0.8135 1.3702 1.0000

MONEY QUOTATIONS
EXCHANGE RATES
NEW YORK-one US$ expressed in respective
unit of foreign currency
EMU 1.3699/02
United Kingdom 1.6840/43
Canada 1.0899/04
Switzerland 0.8920/21
Japan 101.27/30
India 58.58/61
Mexico 12.9070/50
Denmark 5.4481/91
Norway 5.9494/34
Sweden 6.5866/96
Singapore 1.2522/32
Australia 0.9249/50
New Zealand 0.8572/77
Hong Kong 7.7526/32
S. Africa 10.4425/25
Hungary 222.21/21
Israel 3.4764/63
Iceland 112.54/54
Czech Koruna 20.035/084
LONDON - one pound sterling expressed in
respective unit of foreign currency at 1637
GMT
US 1.6834 1.6839
Swiss France 1.5006 1.5017
Japan 170.3400 170.45
Norway 10.0175 10.0455
EURO 1.2284 1.2288
Canada 1.8361 1.8376
Denmark 9.1700 9.1739
Sweden 11.0943 11.1078
JAPAN-in per unit of foreign currency
UK 0.5868 0.5870
Switzerland 0.8807 0.8812
SINGAPORE-in S$ per unit of foreign currency
US 1.2530 1.2531
UK 2.1094 2.1098
Australia 1.1566 1.1572
Per 100
Hong Kong 0.1616 0.1616
Japan 1.2379 1.2382
BANK NOTES (Hong Kong)-in HK$ per unit of
foreign currency; TT-telegraphic transfer
Australia 6.8110 6.9060
Canada 7.8510 7.9380
India 1.7500 2.0500
Japan 7.1100 7.2060
Korea 0.8180 0.8880
Philippines 0.1750 0.1900
Brunei 5.3350 5.4410
China 1.0510 1.0620
Denmark 1.4850 1.5550
Norway 1.3770 1.4470
Sweden 1.1800 1.2510
EUR 11.4850 11.5880
Singapore 5.3350 5.4410
Switzerland 6.9970 7.0970
Taiwan 23.3000 25.3000
Thailand 22.5000 24.5000
UK 15.8890 -16.1900
USA 7.7240 7.7940
Japan T/C 7.1040 7.1690
UK T/C 15.8850 -16.0730
USA T/C 7.7340 7.7860
New Zealand 5.8660 5.9660
South Africa 0.9660 1.1660

MONEY RATES
Prime rate-charged by large
comml banks to their best corp. borrowers;
Broker Loan Rate-charged to broker on stock
exchange collaterals; Federal Funds-reserves
traded among comml banks for overnight use
Prime rate 3.2500
Discount 0.7500
Broker Loan Rate 2.0000
Federal Funds Rate 0.25
EURODOLLAR DEP (New York)
One month 0.1100 0.1900
Two months 0.1500 0.2300
Three months 0.1600 0.2600
Four months 0.1800 0.2800
Five months 0.2000 0.4000
Six months 0.2100 0.4100
Nine months 0.2600 0.3600
One year 0.3500 0.5500
MONEY RATES (London)
Euro$ Depo
One month 0.0900 0.1900
Three months 0.2300 0.3600
Six months 0.3400 0.4400
One year 0.5200 0.7000
Forwards & Deposits (Singapore)
One month 0.1788 0.3663
Two months 0.2500 0.3700
Three months 0.2225 0.4100
Six months 0.2791 0.4666
Nine months 0.3700 0.5000
One year 0.4306 0.6181
LIBOR RATE -London Interbank Offered
Rates charged in US$ for Eurodollar loans
Rates fixed at 11:00 a.m. London time
One Month 0.1478
Two Months 0.1910
Three months 0.2281
Six months 0.3253
One year 0.5346

GOLD BULLION
WORLD BULLION-in US$ per troy
ounce, rupees/10 gms, won/gram
Ldn morning fix 1291.50
Ldn aftrn fix 1295.50
London close 1293.56 1294.24
New York 1293.70 1294.20
Zurich 1,293.70 1,294.20
Bombay 24 carat 0.00 1,000.00
Karachi 24 carat 0.00 0.00
Dubai 24 carat 0.00 0.00
US Gold Prices ($/Troy ounce)
Engelhard gold (bullion) 1291.64
Engelhard gold (fabricated) 1388.51
Handy & Harman (base price) 1295.5
Handy & Harman (fabricated) 1399.14
Krugerrand 1256.51 1259.51
source: REUTERS
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014
BSP REFERENCE RATES
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
source: BSP
Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent
of foreign of US$1 of foreign of RPP in of foreign of EURO
currency in in foreign currency in foreign currency in in foreign
Currency US Dollar currency RP peso currency EURO currency

Convertible currencies with BSP
US dollar 1.000000 1.000000 43.7280 0.022869 0.729820 1.370201
Japanese yen 0.009875 101.265823 0.4318 2.315887 0.007207 138.753989
UK pound 1.684300 0.593718 73.6511 0.013578 1.229237 0.813513
Hongkong dollar 0.128997 7.752118 5.6408 0.177280 0.094145 10.621913
Swiss franc 1.121076 0.892000 49.0224 0.020399 0.818184 1.222219
Canada dollar 0.917515 1.089900 40.1211 0.024925 0.669621 1.493382
Singapore dollar 0.798594 1.252201 34.9209 0.028636 0.582830 1.715766
Australia dollar 0.926183 1.079700 40.5001 0.024691 0.675947 1.479406
Bahrain dinar * 2.652590 0.376990 115.9925 0.008621 1.935914 0.516552
Kuwait dinar N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Saudi Arabia rial 0.266631 3.750502 11.6592 0.085769 0.194593 5.138931
Brunei dollar 0.795418 1.257201 34.7820 0.028751 0.580512 1.722617
Indonesia rupiah 0.000087 11494.252874 0.0038 263.157895 0.000063 15873.015873
Thailand baht 0.030750 32.520325 1.3446 0.743716 0.022442 44.559308
U. A. E. Dirham 0.272257 3.673000 11.9053 0.083996 0.198699 5.032738
E.M.U. euro 1.370200 0.729820 59.9161 0.016690 1.000000 1.000000
South Korea won 0.000976 1024.590164 0.0427 23.419204 0.000712 1404.494382
China yuan ** 0.160298 6.238381 7.0095 0.142664 0.116989 8.547812

Others (Not Convertible with BSP)
Argentina peso 0.124100 8.058018 5.4266 0.184277 0.090571 11.041062
Brazil real 0.451875 2.213001 19.7596 0.050608 0.329788 3.032251
Denmark kroner 0.183550 5.448107 8.0263 0.124590 0.133959 7.464971
India rupee 0.017063 58.606341 0.7461 1.340303 0.012453 80.301935
Malaysia ringgit 0.310752 3.218000 13.5886 0.073591 0.226793 4.409307
Mexico new peso 0.077477 12.907056 3.3879 0.295168 0.056544 17.685342
New Zealand dollar 0.857486 1.166200 37.4961 0.026669 0.625811 1.597927
Norway kroner 0.168084 5.949406 7.3500 0.136054 0.122671 8.151886
Pakistan rupee 0.010124 98.775188 0.4427 2.258866 0.007389 135.336311
South African rand 0.095841 10.433948 4.1909 0.238612 0.069947 14.296539
Sweden kroner 0.151823 6.586617 6.6389 0.150627 0.110804 9.024945
Syria pound 0.006711 149.009090 0.2935 3.407155 0.004898 204.164965
Taiwan dollar 0.033159 30.157725 1.4500 0.689655 0.024200 41.322314
Venezuela bolivar 0.159129 6.284210 6.9584 0.143711 0.116136 8.610594
SDR Rate = $1.54563 SDR GOLD Buying: $1,294.65 SILVER Buying: $19.40
* Various banks in Bahrain as quoted in Reuters Screen
** Asian Time Closing Rate as of May 20, 2014
Percent per annum
FOREIGN Interest Rates
FOREX RATE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
Current: P43.792
Volume: $575.00 M
Previous: P43.728
PDS weighted
average rate
New MRR (days)
Percent per annum; Weekly rates
MANILA Reference Rates
Source: BSP
Dec 23-27 Apr 28-May 02 May 05-09
60 1.1875% 1.1250% 1.1250%
90 1.6875% 1.8125% 2.1250%
180 2.8750% 2.2500% 2.4375%
T-BILL 91-DAY
MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014
January 10, 2011 May 5, 2014
Average yield Current: 1.346
Previous: 1.44 (Apr. 7, 2014)
Daily Volume
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014
INTERBANK RATES
Demand Rate
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
High Low
LENDING RATES
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014
MARKET WATCH
UNIVERSAL BANKS
LOCAL BANKS
Banco de Oro Unibank 6.3460 3.3460
Bank of the Philippine Islands 6.3000 3.5000
China Banking Corporation 8.0000 4.2500
Development Bank of the Philis. 6.6500 4.5000
East West Bank 6.5000 5.7500
Land Bank of the Phils. 6.5000 3.5000
MetroBank and Trust Co. 8.0000 6.0000
Philippine National Bank 8.4000 8.4000
Philippine Trust Co. 6.5000 4.5000
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. 7.7500 5.7500
Security Bank Corporation 8.4000 6.4000
Union Bank of the Philippines 8.5000 6.5000
United Coconut Planters Bank 7.0000 5.0000
AVERAGE 7.2958 5.1843

BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
ANZ Bank 6.1000 2.2000
Deutsche Bank 6.2500 3.2000
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank 5.2500 3.6500
ING Bank 4.7500 2.7500
Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. 6.3460 1.2500
Standard Chartered Bank 7.0000 3.7500
AVERAGE 5.9493 2.8000

COMMERCIAL BANKS
LOCAL BANKS:
Asia United Bank 7.0000 6.0000
Bank of Commerce 6.4684 3.9684
BDO Private Bank 6.3460 3.3460
Phil. Bank of Communications 7.2500 5.2500
Philippine Veterans Bank 7.5000 5.5000
Robinsons Bank Corp. 8.0000 5.2500
AVERAGE 7.0941 4.8857

BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Bangkok Bank 8.1500 4.4900
Bank of America 6.4400 4.4400
Bank of China 6.0000 2.2500
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 5.0000 3.5000
Citibank, N.A. 8.5000 2.8000
JPMorgan Chase Bank 3.0800 3.0800
Korea Exchange Bank 8.0000 4.5000
Mega Intl. Comml. Bank Co. Ltd. 8.2500 4.0000
AVERAGE 6.6775 3.6325

SUBSIDIARIES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Chinatrust Bank 5.7790 4.7790
Maybank 7.0000 6.0000
AVERAGE 6.3895 5.3895
GENERAL AVERAGE 6.8373 4.3814
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Mar 25 Apr 22 May 20
LIBOR (US$)
90-days 0.2344 0.2286 0.2281
180 0.3395 0.3221 0.3253
SIBOR (SG$)
90-days 0.4057 0.4038 0.4038
180 0.4814 0.4774 0.4805
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
P33.380 B
HIGH: 2 1/16% LOW: 2% AVE.: 2 1/32%
6.4
ctvs

Thursday, May 22, 2014 4/S2 World Sports

COURTSIDE
Anthony L. Cuaycong
LEBRON JAMES #6 of the Miami Heat goes to the basket against the Indiana Pacers during Game Two of the Eastern Conference
Finals of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
AFP
AS EXPECTED, the Heat made
adjustments from the get-go in
Game Two of the Eastern Confer-
ence nals; apart from starting big
in order to provide better interior
defense, they gave the Pacers a
much diferent perspective on of-
fense by aiming for closer looks.
And, for the most part, the chang-
es reaped dividends; they showed
better coverage even as they con-
tinued to be challenged on the
inside, not to mention generated
more efcient opportunities in
the face of their preferential op-
tion to attack the basket.
All the same, the Heat looked,
well, beatable for the most part;
as improved and as pumped up as
they may have been vis-a-vis their
Game One selves, they appeared
ripe for yet another loss courtesy
of the inspired Pacers. Halfway
through the fourth quarter, things
didnt look to be going their way.
The pace was extremely slow and,
therefore, to the advantage of the
competition. More importantly,
they were subjected to balanced
scoring emanating from multiple
possessions; not for nothing did
they manage to give up 10 more
offensive rebounds and 13 more
eld-goal attempts by the end of
the match.
If there was anything the Heat
could count on, however, it was
that they had star power. With
due respect to the Pacers (who
boasted of such notables as Paul
George, Roy Hibbert, and, yes,
Lance Stephenson), they had
the luxury of relying on LeBron
James and Dwyane Wade in the
crunch. And, yesterday, the duo
lived up to billing, presiding over
a clinic under pressure. Consid-
ering how effortless their exer-
tions seemed as they rst rallied
from a decit and then took the
lead for good with the match
and, perhaps, the series on the
line, they didnt just play. They
schooled.
Indeed, James and Wade
proved their mettle; such was
their inuence on the outcome of
Game Two that they either scored
or assisted on the Heats last 33
points. In other words, it was
winning time, and they went to
work; in the nal 15 minutes of the
set-to, they collectively issued six
assists and put up 25 points on 10
of 13 shooting. No wonder team-
mate Norris Cole, no slouch him-
self yesterday, could not help but
note in awe, thats why theyre
the hundred-million-dollar guys.
Theyre unstoppable.
Hyperbole aside, the onus is on
the Pacers to prove that, moving
forward, theyre capable of con-
taining the Heats marquee names.
The good news is that theyve got
four days to prepare for Game
Three. The bad news is that they
no longer have home court ad-
vantage, and, in losing it, may well
have given James and Wade and,
by extension, the rest of the black
and red ample proof that they
can be beaten even when condi-
tions are to their liking.
Star power
INDIANAPOLIS LeBron James
and Dwyane Wade combined for
45 points as the Miami Heat ral-
lied to beat the Indiana Pacers 87-
83 yesterday and even their NBA
playof series at 1-1.
James and Wade scored or as-
sisted on the last 33 points for
the Heat who regrouped from an
embarrassing 107-96 loss in Sun-
days Game One of the best-of-
seven Eastern Conference final
series.
Wade said he had great chem-
istry with James on Tuesday
night.
What we envisioned coming
in here is having two guys who
are able to be dynamic. We just
make plays that feel right, Wade
said.
I always know where number
six is on the oor. Him touching
the ball, or me touching the ball,
is the best thing for our team,
Wade said.
Wade shot 10-for-16 en route to
a team-high 23 points, while James
tallied 22 with seven rebounds, six
assists and three blocked shots.
Norris Cole came of the bench to
score 11 points.
We are never satisfied until
we close out a series, James said.
Even though we played a great
game I feel we still have some
things to cover.
Both teams will have time to
relax before the series resumes
Sunday in Miami.
Paul George tallied 24 points
and seven assists while Roy Hib-
bert and David West each scored
19 points for the Pacers who are
Heat regroup to beat Pacers
4-5 at home in the postseason.
George Hill shot a disappointing
three-of-nine for 15 points in the
loss.
Miami trailed 75-72 following
Hibberts hook shot at 5:33, but
James answered with six consecu-
tive points.
Wade then followed James
missed layup with a tip in, and ex-
tended the lead with a jump shot.
The 10-0 surge by the Heat all but
sealed the win.
Trailing by seven in the final
moments, George Hill hit a three-
pointer and Miami turned the ball
over trying to inbound following a
timeout.
But all Indiana could come up
with was a deep Lance Stephenson
triple, which fell well short as the
buzzer sounded.
It is not demoralizing. We
know they (James and Wade) are
great, great players. We just have
to respond, said Pacers coach
Frank Vogel.
The Heat avoided going down
2-0 in a playof series, something
that has never happened since
the Big Three of James, Wade and
Chris Bosh hooked up in south
Florida. AFP
NEW YORK The Cleveland
Cavaliers won the National Bas-
ketball Associations draft lottery
for the second-consecutive year
yesterday, giving them the rst
overall pick in next months entry
draft.
The Cavaliers have struggled
on the court since losing LeBron
James to Miami in 2010 but they
are hoping to make up for it by
building through youth.
This is also the third time in
four years they will pick rst and
they had to overcome some big
odds to get that coveted top prize.
Heading into yesterdays draft
lottery they had a less than 2%
chance of getting the rst pick.
Cleveland took Australian-
born All-Star guard Kyrie Irving
in 2011 and selected Canadian
forward Anthony Bennett last
year.
Its only the second time under
the current format, which was
instituted in 1994, that the team
with the ninth-best odds earned
the number one pick.
Chicago did it in the 2008 lot-
tery to select future league MVP
Derrick Rose.
Milwaukee and Philadelphia
nished second and third in yes-
terdays drawing. The Bucks had
the worst record and so the best
chance of coming out on top in the
draft lottery at 25%.
This is considered to be a
talent-rich draft with two Kansas
players, Andrew Wiggins, of Cana-
da, and Joel Embiid, of Cameroon,
and Dukes Jabari Parker, of the
US, all being hailed as potential
rst-overall picks.
The 2014 draft will be held at
Brooklyns Barclays Center on
June 26. Reuters
Cavaliers to pick rst
for second-straight year
LOS ANGELES Commissioner
Adam Silver said the NBA would
not grant Donald Sterling an ex-
tension and added he is condent
they will be able to force the Los
Angeles Clippers owner to sell the
team.
Speaking yesterday at his rst
news conference since banning
Sterling for life from the NBA over
racist comments, Silver said he
has the full support of the other
owners.
We know were doing the right
thing, and I know I have the own-
ers behind me, Silver said.
In terms of additional time,
the answer has been no.
On Tuesday, the NBA released a
summary of the charges they plan
to use to force the embattled Ster-
ling and his wife, Shelly, to part
with the club they have owned
since 1981.
Silver set a hearing on the mat-
ter for June 3 where both parties
will be able to provide evidence to
support their cases. He has given
Sterling until May 27 to respond
to the charges which includes
damaging the league by making
racist comments against African-
Americans.
Sterling had asked for a three-
month delay in the hearing.
The proceedings and the
process is set out in our constitu-
tion, something they signed on for
when they became owners in the
league, Silver said yesterday.
The Sterling controversy began
last month when the American
gossip Web site TMZ released an
audio clip of Sterling telling his
girlfriend, V. Stiviano, that she
should not bring black people to
Clipper games.
In the weeks that followed, the
NBA banned Sterling from the
league and ned him $2.5 million.
The league then appointed inter-
im chief executive Dick Parsons to
run the Clippers.
Silver said that he would urge
fellow owners to force Ster-
ling, who says he wont pay the
$2.5-million ne, to sell the team.
Meanwhile, the league also al-
leges Sterling tried to cover up
the scandal, the Los Angeles Times
reported on Tuesday night.
The NBA has charged Sterling
with six counts, including destroy-
ing evidence and giving false and
misleading evidence to the NBAs
chief investigator, the newspaper
reported.
The billionaire owner wanted
her to tell the league investigators
that the voice on the recording was
not his and that she altered the
recording, the Times reported.
The newspaper also reported
the league would argue that Shelly
Sterling and Clippers president
Andy Roeser were part of the
cover-up as well.
The Times story went on to
suggest that Shelly Sterling is not
estranged from her husband as she
has said in recent weeks.
The newspaper said Sterling
declined to comment.
The Clippers controversial
season ended Friday when the
Oklahoma City Thunder beat
them 104-98 to win their playof
series four games to two. AFP
Silver denies Sterlings
extension bid
NEW YORK/TAIPEI The
National Basketball Associa-
tion (NBA) will stage its rst-
ever Basketball Without Bor-
ders (BWB) Asia in Taiwan, it
was announced yesterday by
the NBA, the International
Basketball Federation (FIBA)
and the Chinese Taipei Basket-
ball Association (CTBA).
Jr. NBA Philippines 2011
All- Star Rendell Senining,
soon to play with the National
University Bulldogs in Season
77 of the University Athletic
Association of the Philippines
(UAAP), will be one of the 50
campers who will take part in
Basketball Without Borders
this year.
John Salmons (Toronto
Raptors), Ronny Turiaf (Min-
nesota Timberwolves) and
Cody Zeller (Charlotte Bob-
cats) will headline the program
which takes place from June
13-16 in Taipei.
Eight-time NBA All- Star
Yao Ming will make a one-day
appearance. BWB Asia 2014
will bring together the top 50
players born in 1996 or 1997
from more than 20 Asian and Oce-
anic countries.
NBA team assistant coaches
Bryan Gates of the New Orleans
Pelicans, David Vanterpool of the
Portland Trail Blazers and Bobby
Jackson of the Minnesota Timber-
wolves will also participate.
Basketball without Borders
helps us to grow the game of
basketball and bring attention
to important social issues that
affect communities in Taiwan,
said Bimal Kapoor, associate vice-
president and managing director
of NBA Taiwan.
Thanks to the support of the
CTBA, we are able to host this
great program in Taiwan for the
rst time and give elite youth play-
ers the opportunity to develop
their basketball skills and their
life skills.
We are delighted to work with
the NBA to provide young tal-
ent from around the Asia-Pacic
region with the opportunity to
learn from the best players and
coaches in the world, said Ting
Shou-chung, president of the
CTBA. The support of the NBA
for this project is another step that
broadens our relationship with
them and demonstrates our com-
mitment to continue basketball
development in Taiwan.
The NBA has hosted a series of
games and events in Taiwan high-
lighted by two sets of pre-season
games including the NBA Taipei
Game 2009 between the Denver
Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers
and the Global Games 2013 Tai-
pei featuring the Pacers and the
Houston Rockets, and the Cathay
NBA Youth Madness from 2011
to 2014.
In addition to the program in
Taiwan, the 2014 BWB schedule
will feature first-time camp in
Rome, Italy and will return to Jo-
hannesburg, South Africa.
BWB Europe will tip off the
summer schedule from June 25
in Rome. Highlighting the camp
will be three current Italian NBA
players and former BWB campers:
Danilo Gallinari (BWB 2003, Den-
ver Nuggets), Andrea Bargnani
(BWB 2003, New York Knicks),
and Italian national team captain
Gigi Datome (BWB 2003, Detroit
Pistons), who will also be joined
by Brandon Knight (Milwaukee
Bucks) and Al Horford (Atlanta
Hawks). BWB Europe 2014
will bring together the top 50
players born in 1997 from more
than 25 European countries.
The camp was held previously
in Treviso, Italy in 2001, 2003,
2004 and 2005.
BWB Africa will return to
Johannesburg for the 11
th
time
from Aug. 5-8. The camp will be
led by former All-Star Andrei
Kirilenko (Brooklyn Nets) and
Thabo Sefolosha (Oklahoma
City Thunder), along with NBA
head coaches Dwane Casey
(Toronto Raptors), Brian Shaw
(Denver Nuggets) and Jef Hor-
nacek (Phoenix Suns). BWB
Africa 2014 will bring together
the top 60 African players born
in 1997 or 1998 from more than
20 African countries.
Since its inception, the NBA
and FIBA have staged 36 BWB
camps in 21 cities across 18
countries on five continents.
More than 150 different cur-
rent and former NBA/WNBA
players have joined nearly 140
NBA team personnel from all
30 NBA teams.
National Basketball Association to host
rst basketball without borders in Taiwan
SAN FRANCISCO Eight retired
players sued the National Foot-
ball League (NFL) yesterday over
medications they say were ob-
tained illegally and given as pain-
killers to numb injuries without
regard for future health concerns.
The lawsuit, led in a San Fran-
cisco federal court, alleges the
NFL put profits ahead of player
safety in giving players drugs
without prescriptions and without
warning about side efects or other
potential risks such as addiction.
We believe its a significant
case that will eventually help play-
ers and future players in future
situations like this, Andrew Slut-
kin, a partner in the Baltimore law
rm that investigated the claims,
told the Baltimore Sun.
The lawsuit comes after the
league settled a lawsuit by former
players involving concussions last
year for $765 million, although
that settlement deal has yet to be
approved over a judges concerns
the amount might not be enough.
The lawyers want the latest
case to become a class-action law-
suit and that could open the door
for more than 500 other players to
add their names. Jim McMahon,
Jeremy Newberry, Richard Dent,
Keith Van Horne, Ron Stone, Roy
Green, JD Hill and Ron Pritchard
are the eight players named in the
suit.
The 87-page complaint claims
the players were doped up on opi-
ates and painkillers to keep them
on the playing eld.
Hill played for seven seasons in
the 1970s for the Bufalo Bills and
the Detroit Lions.
I was provided uppers, down-
ers, painkillers, you name it, while
in the NFL, Hill said in a state-
ment. I become addicted and
turned to the streets after my ca-
reer and was homeless. Never took
a drug in my life, and I became a
junkie in the NFL.
Newberry said he would get in
line before games with his team-
mates to get shot up with drugs.
Pregame, maybe 15 other
starters and I would receive a shot
of Toradol, the former Oakland
Raider and San Francisco 49er
said in a statement.
During the game, I would often
receive multiple injections of pain-
killers. After the game, I would take
at least 2 Vicodin and occasionally
additional pills... We would then be
given Ambien or some other sleep
medication to sleep. AFP
Eight retired players sue
league over painkillers
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S2/5 World Sports
Dont mourn the death
of tiki-taka just yet
AFP
A COMBINATION OF FILE PICTURES made on May 13 shows Spains provisional
30-man squad for the upcoming World Cup 2014 in Brazil announced on May 13 by
coach Vicente Del Bosque. (From top L) Goalkeepers Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina and
David de Gea, defender Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Javi
Martinez, Cesar Azpilicueta, Raul Albiol, Juanfran Torres and Alberto Moreno, midfeld-
ers Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso,
David Silva, Thiago Alcantara, Koke, Santiago Cazorla, Ander Iturraspe and Juan Mata,
forwards Pedro Rodriguez, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Diego Costa, David Villa,
Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente.
JULIO TEHERAN #49 of the Atlanta Braves throws a fourth-inning pitch against the
Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field on May 20 in Atlanta, Georgia.
A
F
P
PARIS Having won the last three
major international tournaments,
it is worth wondering if reign-
ing champion Spain might nally
come a cropper at this World Cup.
Its remarkable run of success
simply has to come to an end even-
tually, and there are concerns that
its style of football epitomized
by the ageing Xavi Hernandez is
already outdated.
Spain followed the Barcelona
way of playing to win the 2010
World Cup and Euro 2012. In the
latter tournament, it ultimately
triumphed in style, destroying
Italy 4-0 in the nal, but the sterile
way in which it dominated earlier
matches led many to label Vicente
del Bosques side boring.
Even if wasnt always thrilling,
it was efective. But the two years
since have witnessed the decline
of the Pep Guardiola empire at
Barcelona.
The Catalans possession-based
game, popularly known as tiki-
taka, was made to look utterly
one-dimensional as they were
taken apart by Bayern Munich, all
power and fast transitions from
defense to attack, in the Champi-
ons League seminals in 2013.
Fast-forward a year and Bay-
ern, with Guardiola in charge, was
playing the tiki-taka and being torn
apart on the counter-attack by Real
Madrid at the same stage. Recently,
as a result, it has become popular to
mourn the death of that style.
Alternative ways of play-
ing have emerged at club level.
Borussia Dortmunds high-octane
counter-pressing game took it
to the 2013 Champions League
final, while Atletico Madrid has
achieved extraordinary success
with a 4-4-2 formation centered
around defensive discipline, mid-
field industry and the brute at-
tacking force of Diego Costa.
But to say that tiki-taka is dead
is to jump to conclusions. After all,
until 2011, Guardiolas Barcelona
mixed its mesmerizing short pass-
ing with a crucial element, a high-
energy pressing game. And Guar-
diolas Bayern won the double in
Germanyintheseasonjust nished.
There are diferent ways to win
matches, though, and all are valid.
Playing with two forwards has be-
come less commonplace in the last
decade, and both the 4-2-3-1 and
Barcelonas classic 4-3-3 with one
central forward, or perhaps a false
nine, will be prominent in Brazil.
Nevertheless, several Central
and South American sides will
play with two strikers, including
Uruguay with Edinson Cavani and
Luis Suarez, and Chile.
The four-man defense will re-
main de rigueur, even if Mexico
should favor a back ve and Louis
van Gaal has admitted that the loss
of midelder Kevin Strootman to
injury could see the Netherlands
abandon its 4-3-3 for a 5-3-2.
Van Gaals seemingly last-min-
ute change in policy is all the more
remarkable given that modern
World Cups tend to be character-
ised by the desire not to take risks.
The rst FIFA World Cup Tech-
nical Study, of the 1966 finals in
England, noted that emphasis on
defensive strength in team play
is spreading throughout world
football, because team coaches
in modern competition cannot af-
ford to lose.
Fast-forward to South Africa
2010, and FIFA noted that the
opening group matches were char-
acterized by cautious play.
Things did improve, but the
average goals per game for the
entire tournament was just 2.27,
the lowest ever except for Italy
1990 (2.21), while Spain was the
lowest-scoring winner since the
World Cup began.
In Brazil, given what is at stake,
the emphasis should again be on
caution and there will probably be
little in terms of innovation from
managers now. AFP
Braves blank Brewers; Washington outclasses Cincinnati
NEW YORK Highlights of Tuesdays
Major League Baseball Games.
BRAVES 5, BREWERS 0
The Atlanta Braves fnally provided
some run support for pitcher Julio
Teheran, and he rewarded them with
a complete-game shutout in a 5-0
win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Braves scored fve runs for
the third straight game and extended
their winning streak to three games. It
was only the second time this season
that the Braves offense has scored
fve runs for Teheran (3-3), who won
his frst game since April 16.
Teheran earned his second career
shutout. The right-hander allowed fve
hits and struck out six on a career-
high 123 pitches. The Brewers did
not have a runner advance past sec-
ond base until the ninth inning and
suffered their ffth shutout. It was
Milwaukees fourth straight loss.
NATIONALS 9, REDS 4
Doug Fister allowed just two runs in
seven inning, and Denard Span had a
career-high fve hits as the Washing-
ton Nationals thrashed the Cincinnati
Reds 9-4.
Fister (1-1) yielded six hits and
threw 109 pitches during his frst
home start for the Nationals. The
right-hander was acquired in a De-
cember trade with the Detroit Tigers,
and he began the season on the
disabled list due to a right lat strain.
Washington scored seven runs in
the sixth to break up a pitchers duel
between Fister and Reds right-hander
Johnny Cueto (4-3). Right felder
Jayson Werth and frst baseman Tyler
Moore had RBI singles, and a two-run
single by second baseman Danny
Espinosa made it 6-1 and chased
Cueto from the game.
Cueto pitched 5 1/3 innings and
allowed six hits and eight runs (six
earned) while also hitting two batters.
Cueto gave up just 10 total runs, all
earned, in his frst nine starts.
INDIANS 6, TIGERS 2
The Cleveland Indians scored fve
runs in the frst two innings off right-
hander Justin Verlander and went
on to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit
Tigers at Progressive Field.
In beating Detroit for the second
time in two nights, the Indians pound-
ed out 12 hits, including fve doubles
off Verlander.
Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer,
in his frst start since replacing right-
hander Danny Salazar in Clevelands
starting rotation, pitched into the
seventh inning to get the win.
ORIOLES 9, PIRATES 2
Chris Davis lived up to his nickname
of crush by belting three home runs
in the Baltimore Orioles 9-2 rout of
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The big frst baseman doubled his
season home-run total with a two-run
shot during a four-run ffth inning that
put the Orioles ahead 6-1 then added
a solo blast in the seventh and
another two run-shot in the ninth. He
also had four hits and fve RBIs.
It was Daviss second career
three-homer game the other came
on Aug. 24, 2012 against Toronto
and seventh multi-homer game.
After leading the major leagues and
setting a franchise record with 53
homers last season, Davis hit just
three in his frst 30 games.
Left-felder Nelson Cruz also hom-
ered, following Daviss shot in the
ffth, to give the Orioles their second
set of back-to-back homers of the
season.
BLUE JAYS 7, RED SOX 4
Edwin Encarnacion hit two of Toron-
tos four homers, and the Blue Jays
sent the reeling Red Sox to their ffth
straight loss, beating Boston 7-4.
US Open could be bombers paradise, says Graeme McDowell
NEW YORK Past US Opens
have been notorious for narrow
fairways and thick rough but next
months edition at Pinehurst in
North Carolina will buck that
trend and could end up as a bomb-
ers paradise, says 2010 winner
Graeme McDowell.
The fabl ed Pi nehurst No.
2 course, designed by Donald
Ross and restored to his initial
specifications by the architec-
tural team of Ben Crenshaw and
Bill Coore, will have wide fair-
ways and no rough whatsoever
for the June 12-15 champion-
ship.
While the renowned turtleback
greens remain largely unchanged
and will once again challenge the
short games of the worlds best
players, McDowell has fears that
the par-70 layout will favor the
power hitters.
Pinehurst is an iron-shot golf
course, a second-shot golf course,
Northern Irishman McDowell
told Reuters while preparing for
the second of the years four major
championships.
In 2005 the setup there was
a little much, shall we say? he
smiled, referring to the most re-
cent US Open held at Pinehurst
where the rough was up and only
nine players out of 156 broke par
in the opening round.
It didnt need to be punish-
ing tee shots as much as it was [in
2005]. You want to let guys have a
go at these pin positions from out
of position [after the rst shot].
I am just worried that this
years US Open, with no rough, is
going to give the bombers a little
too much space, thats my only
concern.
MASTERPIECE DESIGN
McDowell nished up in a tie for
80
th
at the 2005 US Open after
closing with an 11-over 81 but,
overall, he has happy memories
of Pinehurst No. 2 which is widely
regarded as Donald Ross master-
piece design.
Its all about iron shots and I
love that you get an opportunity to
go at it, said the 34-year-old from
Portrush, who clinched his only
major title in tough, breezy condi-
tions at the 2010 US Open held at
Pebble Beach.
At Pinehurst next month, its
going to be about placing it in the
right sides of the fairways, get the
right yardages, etc, etc. I am really
looking forward to seeing it.
Opened as an 18-hole layout in
1907, the North Carolina course
was ne-tuned by Scotland-born
Ross several times until 1946. Un-
questionably, its unusual invert-
ed-saucer greens have become its
best-known feature.
It will be a unique type of chal-
lenge next month, and a unique
type of short game is going to be
required around there because of
the greens, said world number 15
McDowell.
I enjoyed Pinehurst in 05,
though the setup then was brutal.
Without the rough, its going to be
much, much better.
Pinehurst No. 2 staged its rst
US Open in 1999, when the late
Payne Stewart triumphed by a
shot over fellow American Phil
Mickelson after holing a 15-foot
par putt on the nal hole.
New Zealands Michael Camp-
bell clinched the 2005 edition,
holding of a nal-round charge
by American Tiger Woods to
land his only major title by two
strokes.
Next month, the par-70 layout
will hold its third US Open before
hosting the US Womens Open for
the rst time the following week.
Reuters
NEW YORK Lucy Li, an 11-year-
old from California, has became the
youngest-ever to qualify for the US
Womens Open after going two under
par in her sectional qualifer, the US
Golf Association said.
Li earned her way into next
months golf major event by shooting
rounds of 74 and 68 on the par-72
Old Course at Half Moon Bay near
San Francisco on Monday.
The school girl beat second-
place qualifer Kathleen Scavo
by seven strokes to earn her way
into the feld for the June 19-22
championship at Pinehurst in North
Carolina.
Lexi Thompson, at 12 years, four
months in 2007, previously held the
mark as youngest to qualify.
Li will not be the youngest
player ever to participate in the US
Womens Open as Beverly Klass was
10 when she competed in the 1967
championship, prior to the qualifca-
tion process.
The young Californian has already
tasted the limelight, having won her
age group at Augusta Nationals
inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Cham-
pionship last month ahead of the
Masters.
Last year, Li qualifed for the
matchplay portion of the US
Womens Amateur Public Links
Championship but lost in the frst
round. Reuters
11-year-old
qualies
for US
Womens Open
Left felder Melky Cabrera went
4-for-5 with a homer and catcher Erik
Kratz also went deep for the Blue Jays,
who won for the sixth time in eight
games. Toronto entered the night three
homers shy of the Colorado Rockies
(62) for the major league lead.
Boston, meanwhile, is enduring its
longest skid since dropping the fnal
eight games of the 2012 season.
CARDINALS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Adam Wainwright was almost perfect.
The St. Louis ace allowed a two-out
double to Arizona Diamondbacks frst
baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the
fourth inning and nothing else, strik-
ing out nine in a 5-0 shutout at sold-
out Busch Stadium.
Wainwright (7-2) recorded his
second shutout of the year and the
eighth of his career. The right-hander
retired the frst 11 men he faced, and
after Goldschmidt lined a 2-2 pitch
over the head of center felder Jon
Jay, mowed through the last 16 men
he faced in his frst career one-hitter.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals offense
tagged Bronson Arroyo (4-3) for nine
hits, seven going for extra bases, and
fve runs over seven innings. Arroyo,
who walked none and fanned six, al-
lowed just three runs in his previous
29 2/3 innings.
PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 5
Jimmy Rollins slugged a two-run
homer to help give the Philadelphia
Phillies a 6-5 win over the Miami Mar-
lins at Marlins Park.
The Phillies trailed 3-2 when
shortstop Rollins hit his ffth-inning
homer. Philadelphia added two runs
in the sixth on a two-out, bases-
loaded single past third base by
pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr.
Miami scored an unearned run in
the eighth to make it 6-4. Third base-
man Cody Asche dropped a foul pop by
catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who then
hit a run-scoring single. But the Marlins
failed to add on in the inning, despite
having runners on frst and third and no
outs against reliever Mike Adams.
ATHLETICS 3, RAYS 0
The Oakland Athletics and Tampa
Bay Rays continued going in opposite
directions at Tropicana Field.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz and
his bullpen made one early rally
stand up as the As won, 3-0, to claim
their fourth straight victory and tenth
in 11 to burnish their major league-
best record (29-16).
The Rays (19-27), meanwhile, lost
for the eighth time in their last nine at
home to slump further into last place
in the American League East at a
season-low eight games under .500.
MARINERS 6, RANGERS 2
Seattle right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma
held the foundering Texas Rangers
to two runs over eight innings in the
Mariners 6-2 victory.
Iwakuma gave up six hits and
walked one, improving his record to
3-0 and lowering his ERA to 1.76 in
four starts in 2014.
Five Mariners hitters had RBIs in
Seattles 12-hit attack, including third
baseman Kyle Seager, who was 3-for-
5 with two RBIs.
DODGERS 9, METS 4
Adrian Gonzalez fnished a triple
short of the cycle and right-hander
Josh Beckett won a second consecu-
tive start for the frst time in exactly
two years as the Los Angeles Dodg-
ers beat the New York Mets 9-4 at
Citi Field.
Gonzalez, the Dodgers frst
baseman, went 3-for-4 with a walk
and gave Los Angeles the lead for
good with a two-run homer during a
four-run ffth.
Right felder Yasiel Puig had
three hits, two runs scored and an
RBI for the Dodgers (24-22), who
snapped a two-game losing streak.
Left-felder Carl Crawford had three
runs, two hits, two stolen bases
and an RBI.
WHITE SOX 7, ROYALS 6
First baseman Adam Dunn smoked
a three-run homer and the Chicago
White Sox held off the Kansas City
Royals 7-6.
Dunn homered to straightaway
center on a 2-2 pitch in the eighth
from Royals right-hander Aaron Crow
to give the Royals. Second baseman
Gordon Beckham and third baseman
Conor Gillaspie were along for the
ride, each singling before Dunns
blast.
CUBS 6, YANKEES 1
Luis Valbuena went 3-for-4 and
scored twice while catcher John
Baker snapped a 3-for-32 slump
with a pair of hits and an RBI as the
Chicago Cubs topped the New York
Yankees 6-1.
The inter-league game, the frst
in a two-game set, was only the third
series the Yankees have played at
the landmark ballpark since 2003.
Cubs right-handed starter Jason
Hammel (5-2) worked 5 2/3 innings
and evened his record in two starts
this year against New York. Yankees
right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (6-1)
suffered his frst career loss.
Reuters
BRIEFS
Campaign continues
SOME 550,000 children, teachers
and day-care workers in Tacloban
are expected to return back to
learning on June 2, nearly seven
months after Typhoon Haiyan
devastated 3,200 schools and
day-care centers. The back to
learning in a new school year is a
signicant milestone.
As UNICEF and Education
Cluster partners are support-
ing the Department of Education
(DepEd) in bringing children
back to school in the Typhoon
Haiyan-afected areas, the im-
portance of safe schools is high on
the agenda.
In the launch of Back to Learn-
ing in a Safe School campaign
today, DepEd Undersecretary
Mario Deriquito said that DepEd
promotes schools as safe havens
for children after the destruction
caused by the super-typhoon,
highlighting the 2014 Brigada
Eskwela theme of Making our
Schools Safer.
Resuming education in a safe
learning environment is a cru-
cial element in helping children
regain a sense of normalcy and
stability after a major emergency
such as Typhoon Haiyan. Schools
must continue to provide a frame-
work for psychosocial support
that children need to recover
from, and ensure that all children
afected by the typhoon return to
school.
UNICEF is targeting 500,000
children to go back to school and
continue learning in the afected
regions.
The Education Cluster, led by
DepEd, constitutes of organiza-
tions working in the education
sector.
The cluster mechanism seeks
to make humanitarian assistance
more efective through coordi-
nating eforts, addressing and
reducing gaps, maximizing re-
sources, and by sharing strategic
information and planning.
Mayor of Tacloban Alfred Ro-
mualdez lauded the assistance
of humanitarian partners in
launching the Back to Learning in
a Safe School.
Aside from the campaign
launch at the Kapangian Central
School here, simultaneous activi-
ties are being conducted in schools
across the afected regions.
Education is not only a basic
human right, but a tool for recov-
First Balfour partners with IPC
FIRST BALFOUR, Inc., the engi-
neering and construction arm of
the Lopez Group, has recently
signed up for Google Apps for
Business with local cloud pioneer
IPC (IP Converge Data Services,
Inc.).
The company is one of the
frst construction frms in the Phil-
ippines to move to Google Apps.
IPC President Reynaldo R.
Huergas said, Being one of the
most trusted construction com-
panies in the Philippines that in-
vest heavily on their employees,
First Balfour is a great addition
to our roster of clientele. We
see our partnership as one that
will help pave the way for more
engineering and construction
companies in the country to be
encouraged to use Google Apps
as tools to bring their operations
to the next level.
wish to experience the benefts
of cloud computing before further
entrusting their other business
operations to the cloud.
Prior to Google Apps, we had
issues with our e-mail system
characterized by delayed mails,
limited e-mail attachments,
among others. With this recent
move, we can now focus on
improving our other ICT systems
as we no longer have to monitor
e-mail storage spaces because
of Google Apps suffcient cloud
storage capacity, said Neil Sia,
First Balfour ICT senior manager.
Collaboration within the
company has just become easier
and more accessible because
each employee can now access
Google Apps features like Gmail,
Google Drive and Google Calen-
dar using any device, anytime
and anywhere.
Power Mac partners
with LifeProof
GAIN BASIC underwater photog-
raphy skills that will help you
capture the underwater world
as Power Mac Center teams
up with consumer electronics
accessory company LifeProof to
offer an underwater photogra-
phy seminar dubbed Underwater
Snaps. Free to the public, Un-
derwater Snaps aims to teach
participants the fundamentals
in capturing images of marine
creatures using an iPhone
or a DSLR camera, allowing
them to get the most out of
their photography equipment.
Core topics to be discussed in
Underwater Snaps are basic
tips on picture composition,
shooting in Macro or Wide lens,
going manual, the challenges
of shooting underwater using
a DSLR camera, and caring for
your underwater equipment.
The Underwater Snaps series,
which began early this month,
will have its last leg on May 23,
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Pow-
er Mac Center SM Aura Premier.
To register,visit www.formstack.
com/forms/?1737217-30aBpf-
BvNd.
Michelin bares online
game promotion
EXPERIENCE A real and unique
motorsport event in the legend-
ary Sepang International F1
Circuit in Malaysia with Mi-
chelins The Right 2 Race online
game promo. From May 26 to
June 30, simply log on to www.
theright2race.com and play the
online racing game. The three
best and fastest lap times from
the Philippines will get to go to
Sepang for the Michelin Pilot
Sport Experiencein August this
year. The Michelin Pilot Sport
Experience is an annual motors-
port event organized by Michelin
where participants get to ride
and drive high-performance
vehicles (Formula car, Porsche
911, Renault Clio, among oth-
ers) under the supervision of
Michelin professional instruc-
tors. This year, lucky racers will
get behind the wheels of the
newly-introduced Formula 4, as
well as other touring and rally
cars. They also get to witness
the exhilaration of a Formula Le
Mans car in its maximum per-
formance using Michelin tires.
Smart offers new
access code
SMART COMMUNICATIONS,
Inc. (Smart) now has easy-to-
remember access code *123#
for Flexibundles, providing user
with an on-screen menu of
services that can conveniently
be added to ones postpaid
plan. The new Smart Postpaid
subscribers can also pick and
choose from a wide array of
call, text, and surfng bundles
once they avail of a plan in any
Smart Store nationwide, so
they can enjoy huge savings
and get the most out of their
subscriptions right away. When
Smart Postpaid subscribers
input *123# on their mobile
phones, they will be presented
with an on-screen menu which
will let them choose from a
wide array of Flexibundles that
allows them to add more to
their postpaid accounts.
URC conducts
outreach program
UNIVERSAL ROBINA Corp.
(URC), through its Consumer
Marketing Department (CMD)
and with the help of local
barangay offcials, conducted
an outreach program for
more than 200 kids and their
parents in Barangay Lourdes
Extension in Baguio City.
Highlight of the event was a
feeding program where the kids
enjoyed Payless Instant Mami
Chicken and Beef noodles
served in handy and reusable
food keepers. They were also
given loot bags containing
Hunts Banana Ketchup, Hunts
Pork & Beans, Jack n Jill XO
White Coffee, Jack n Jill Fun-O
Roundwich Choco and Jack
n Jill Taquitos. The kids also
participated in exciting games
and raffes.
NOTE: Press and photo releases are published in this paper free of charge. Priority will be accorded to releases of news value,
which are subject to editing. Releases may be e-mailed to bulletins@bworldonline.com. Materials sent become BW property.
ery. UNICEF considers education
an integral part of any humani-
tarian response to an emergency,
said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF
Philippines representative.
From the outset, UNICEF sup-
ported continuing education in
Haiyan-afected areas with re-
pairs for damaged classrooms,
provision of supplies, teacher
training on Education in Emer-
gencies, psychosocial support
and child-centered learning prac-
tices.
School-based disaster risk
reduction is also promoted, in-
volving activities by, for and with
children, such as hazard and vul-
nerability mapping, school safety
committees and school disaster
planning linked to barangay early
warning systems.
To date, UNICEF and partners
have reached 470,000 pre-school
and school-aged children with
learning supplies and materials
in the afected areas.
Some 135,000 children bene-
ted from 1,351 temporary learn-
ing spaces equipped with school-
in-a-box kits, and recreational
and early childhood and develop-
ment materials.
As First Balfour projects are now
spread across the entire Philippines
and having its employee population
double its size a year ago, employee
connectivity and engagement proved
to be a challenge. We wanted our
employees to continue feeling part of
the First Balfour family and strengthen
the sense of community even if they
are assigned far from Manila. Doing
so meant providing our people with
the most accessible workplace tools
for communication and collaboration,
and Google Apps proved to be exactly
the tool we were looking for, said
Caloy Salonga, First Balfour vice-presi-
dent for Human Resources.
Of the many cloud services avail-
able to Philippine enterprises today,
e-mail remains to be one of the main
entry points to cloud computing. Apart
from it being a vital communication
tool within the organization, it is usu-
ally the course for companies that
CONSUMER GUIDE
Oakwood presents Italian buffet
DOMINIC CO is among the ve
outstanding grand prize win-
ners of Microsofts YouthSpark
Challenge for Change contest.
The winners include youth from
countries such as India, Mexico,
and the United States.
Microsofts YouthSpark Chal-
lenge for Change is a contest that
encourages young people around
the world to submit an idea de-
signed to spark change in their
communities. The contest is fo-
cused on empowering young peo-
ple to develop or expand a project
for social good that incorporates
the use of Microsoft technology.
YouthSpark is one of the eforts
that Microsoft is doing to achieve
its goal of developing a generation
of Filipino youth who are empow-
ered, future-ready, and globally
competitive. Microsoft commits
itself to this goal by providing op-
portunities for education, em-
ployment, and entrepreneurship
that have the power to drive real
learning,innovation and impact
among students and teachers alike.
Microsoft believes that noth-
ing matches the creativity and
Filipino works, such as Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
have lost some of their relevance
especially to the young people
who read them more than a hun-
dred years later. The Internet,
along with the latest Microsoft
technologies, could provide a
channel for the youth to redis-
cover these works, Mr. Co said.
Libroko.com could serve as a
platform for students all over the
country to appreciate, discuss
and share their opinions on fa-
mous literary works to help them
foster a sense of national identity
and appreciation for literature.
Mr. Co, along with the other
four winners of the YouthSpark
Challenge for Change, will em-
bark on a volunteer trip to the
Amazon to learn about social en-
trepreneurship, leadership, con-
servation and rural development
issues in the Amazon rainforest.
To support turning their ideas
into reality, the winners will also
receive a $2,500 cash grant, and
a Microsoft technology bundle
including a Windows Phone 8 and
Xbox One.
WeatherPhilippines partners with LBC
WeatherPhilippines Foundation (WPF) has partnered with courier
and money remittance services company LBC Express, Inc. to help
complement the governments efforts in reducing weather-related
disaster risks in the country. In photo (standing, from left) are Steve
Paradies, Aboitiz Equity Ventures chief nance ofcer; Andrew Little,
MeteoGroup chief commercial ofcer; Jennifer Campbell, Meteogroup
chief executive ofcer (CEO); Hans Sy, SM Prime Holdings president;
Txabi Aboitiz, Aboitiz chief HR ofcer; Jun Factoran, WPF Board of
Trustee; and Celso C. Caballero III, WPF general manager; (seated,
from left) Manuel B. Zamora, Jr., WPF vice-chairman and treasurer;
Susan V. Valdez, WPF president; Santi Araneta, LBC CEO; and Mike
Camahort, LBC president and chief operations ofcer.
DTI holds Philippine Quality Award forum
The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) through its industry competi-
tiveness arm, the Center for Industrial Competitiveness (CIC), recently
conducted the 16
th
Philippine Quality Award (PQA) Forum at the
Heritage Hotel in Manila where all the company recipients of 2013 PQA
shared their best practices and respective journeys towards quality
management. Photo shows Assistant Secretary Aldaba with the 2013
PQA recipient representatives (from right): Dr. Jaime Buzar, PCUCOA
chairman; Elsie Mae Solidum, DoST XI ARD; Paulo Sotero Laurel III,
LPUM executive assistant to the president; Virgilio Fulgencio, CIC ex-
ecutive director; Angelito Sarmiento, PQA Foundation president; Edwin
To, Zamboanga PHI chairman; and Belmar Capul, PIA staff director.
Printing technology show scheduled
The Print Philippines 2014, the biggest and premier printing tech-
nology show in the Philippines, will be held on Sept. 10 to 14 at
the SMX Convention Center Manila Hall 1. In photo (from left) are
Dennis Salvador, director for sales, SMX Convention Center; Dexter
Deyto, vice-president and general manager, SMX Convention Center;
Agustin Ybud, president, Printing Industries Association of the Phil-
ippines (PIAP); Celso Viray, rst vice-president, PIAP; and Lanny Go,
second vice-president, PIAP.
PRC announces new BoA chairman
The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced the ap-
pointment of Joel L. Tan-Torres as chairman of the Board of Accoun-
tancy (BoA). He took his oath of ofce before the PRC chair, Teresita
Manzala, on May 15, in the PRC Central Ofce, which was witnessed
by the PRC commissioners, Jennifer Manalili and Angeline Chua
Chiaco. With Mr. Tan-Torres in the BoA are the other new members,
Betty C. Siy-Yap, Gerard B. Sanvictores, and Eliseo A. Aurellado, who
each brings in their extensive expertise in the practice. Ms. Siy-Yap
serves as senior vice-president and chief nancial ofcer of Meralco.
Mr. Sanvictores is an assurance partner of SGV & Co. Mr. Aurellado is
a professor at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.
PLDT Global wins Most Innovative MVNO Award
PLDT HK of the PLDT Global Corp. (PGC) won the Most Innovative
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), besting four other interna-
tional companies that made the shortlist of the 2
nd
Annual Interna-
tional MVNO Industry Awards held recently in Berlin, Germany. Photo
shows Whitey Bluestein, corporate development and mobile strategy
advisor of Bluestein & Associates, (left) presenting the award to
Oliver C. Calma, PLDT UK director general manager.
Filipino wins in Microsoft contest
THE RICH, diverse and traditional
favors of the worlds most loved
cuisine take center stage for eight
consecutive Saturday evenings at
Oakrooms bountiful Italian buffet
spread Sabato Cena Italiana.
Oakwood Premier Joy~Nostalg
Center Manilas signature restaurant
celebrates the delectable hodgepodge
of Italian favors in a two-month long
buffet which features a delicious array
of meat & cheese appetizers and a
pizza station highlighting Chef Jerome
Cartaillers famous hand-tossed Pizza
Dela Mare, Rustica and Margherita.
Dine like a true Italian and rel-
ish a wide spread of main buffet
selections including Cheese Ravioli
Pommodoro, Beef Lasagna, Eggplant
Parmigiana and Gnocchi al Gorgonzo-
la among many other sumptuous hot
items awaiting to be discovered.
Alike in Italy, no day is complete
without pasta and Italian fanatics are
passion of youth to inspire social
change. The stories from con-
testants and winners alike were
truly inspiring, said Karrie Ilag-
an, general manager of Microsoft
Philippines. We commit our-
selves to continue to inspire and
empower young people to make
their communities a better place
through the use of technology.
This years entries covered a
range of issues including food se-
curity, personal empowerment,
digital literacy, STEM education,
health care, environmentalism,
and entrepreneurship. Their
projects spanned from grassroots
community organizing to devel-
opment of high-tech apps and on-
line tools.
Mr. Co, a 19-year-old from
Quezon City, plans to develop an
online curriculum to supplement
the teaching of Philippine litera-
ture so the stories come alive and
resonate with todays high school
students. His Libroko.com will
serve as an online resource and
forum that will enable students
to discuss and better understand
various Filipino literary works.
Thursday, May 22, 2014 6/S2 Bulletins
invited to revel with amusement at
the interactive pasta and Panini mak-
ing station that is part of the buffet.
It is available for eight Saturdays
starting on June 7 to July 26, 6 p.m.
to 10 p.m., at Oakroom for only
P990+++ per person, already inclu-
sive of free fowing Limonata as well
as red and white house wine.
For reservations, call 637-7888 or
e-mail to: premiermanila@oakwooda-
sia.com.
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S2/7
EDITOR ALICIA A. HERRERA
Sudoku Pacifc
Complete the grid so that every row, column
and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
ACROSS
1 Schooner staff
5 Surgical tool
10 Sacrice spot
12 Singularly
13 Sculptor Henry
14 Shaping aids
15 Sound of insight
16 Speedily
18 Skipped,
as a dance
20 Spleen
21 Says I do
23 Simpsons
neighbor Flanders
24 Survey
26 Sale sights
28 Signing need
29 Shoot the curl, say
31 Skilled
32 Squeal on
36 Said with contempt
39 Sorbonne article
40 Spent
41 Set free
43 Superior group
44 Simpleton
45 Sour plums
46 Say it isnt so
DOWN
1 Some parents
2 South Pacic
salutation
3 Summer ermine
4 Sea dog
5 Shangri-La gure
6 Scads
7 Singing
without backup
8 Survives
9 Sat for a spell
11 Stops at the pump
17 Soho company
abbr.
19 Symbol of wisdom
22 Social level
24 Stimulant
25 Smallest Great
Lake
27 Sternward
28 Sticks, in a way
30 S. Amer. nation
33 Strange
34 Strike group
35 Smaller than small
37 Spot for
un chapeau
38 Some poems
42 Silent okay
Crossword
By Thomas Joseph
MEXICO CITY A sea of white chefs in aprons
and scores of racing waiters set a pair of Guin-
ness world records in Mexico City, organizers
said last Saturday.
Decked out in their pressed whites, 3,634
chefs crammed the base of the capitals
landmark Angel of Independence victory
column.
That was enough to shatter the old Guinness
mark for the most chefs in one place 2,847,
set in Dubai in January 2013.
And if that victory didnt taste sweet
enough, another record-breaking 337 wait-
ers with drinks on their silver trays held an
800-meter race.
The chefs posed with big smiles for a photo
so big it was snapped from a helicopter.
It is really emotional getting to take part
in this kind of thing, seeing how many of us are
out there, said Angelica Solis, a 26-year-old
local chef set on opening a restaurant with
cutting-edge takes on Mexican classics in Paris.
The waiters, who dashed down the Paseo de
la Reforma, set a record for the biggest group
carrying out the challenge, said Guinness judge
Johanna Hessling.
The events were part of a celebration of
Mexicos cuisine, recognized by UNESCO
as part of the worlds intangible (and tasty)
wealth. AFP
Restaurant record-breakers
taste success twice in Mexico
THE OPENING on May 13 of the
Diamond Hotels Filipino food esta,
The Best of Filipino Cuisine, was a
big production, starting with a dance
presentation by the Bayanihan Dance
Company at the entrance of the Cor-
niche restaurant. After the dancing,
the featured chefs assembled in front
of a bamboo arch and pulled on rib-
bons to release confetti. They then
presented their creations.
The food festival features special
Filipino and Filipino-inspired dishes
created by celebrity chefs Sau del
Rosario, Bruce Lim, and JP Anglo,
and the hotels Executive Chef Marko
Rankel.
Mr. Lim presented roasted turkey
inasal (barbecue), baked salmon cured
in lambanog (coconut vodka), a break-
fast pasta salad, and adobo sliders in
Kaiser buns.
I took a lot of American classics
that I like and kind of just made it a
bit more Pinoy with Pinoy avors and
Pinoy techniques, said Mr. Lim who is
best known for his Asian Food Chan-
nel shows including Tablescapes, E&O
Search For AFCs Next Celebrity Chef
and The Boss.
His turkey inasal was tender, a bit
gamey, and was quite the showstop-
per with its large size. The breakfast
pasta salad was inspired by Filipino
breakfasts of salted sh, tapa (cured
meat), and tomatoes. The salmon was
soft, with an almost fluffy texture,
and the lambanog cure gave the sh a
sweetish avor. The adobo sliders had
a sweetish smoky avor that remind-
ed one less of adobo (chicken and /
or pork stewed in vinegar) and more
of pulled pork not that it was a bad
thing, because the tiny sandwiches
were very lling.
My take on Philippine cuisine is
taken from my home province: Ange-
les, Pampanga. Most of my recipes are
my moms, noted Mr. Del Rosario. It
is thus not a surprise that one of his
dishes is sisig with foie gras the dish,
after all, was created in Angeles.
His other dishes were a pako (fern)
salad, a bagnet kare-kare (deep-fried
port belly in a peanut-sauce stew)
with truffle macadamia sauce, and a
lacquered roast duck with pancakes,
lettuce, egg, and adobo sauce.
The sisig with foie gras tasted
just the way sisig should, with the
crunch of the cartilage punctuat-
ing every bite. Unfortunately, the
foie gras was wasted in the dish, for
it soon became indistinguishable
amid the chopped-up pork face. His
take on Peking duck was delicious
and light. The kare-kare had a sub-
tler taste compared to its traditional
peanut-based counterpart. The fern
salad was light and healthy: you
could actually feel your sins against
cholesterol from the indulgence in
all the meat being pardoned with
each bite of this salad.
Mr. Del Rosario (M Caf) was also
responsible for most of the dessert
spread, which included a very rich
and dense leche an made with duck
egg, and Doa Edithas Spanish Bread
Pudding. A bowl of melted chocolate
stood by the dessert spread, ready to
be spooned over anything.
Mr. Anglo presented pancit molo (a
dumpling soup), Pritchon pancakes
with Hoisin sauce (think Peking duck
with roast pig instead of duck), a Wa-
gyu salpicao, and Ilonggo lechon (roast
pig).
The pancit molo, topped with either
shrimp or chicken, looked unassum-
ing, but a very long stewing time, ac-
cording to Mr. Anglo, gave the soup an
unexpectedly strong-flavored broth.
The Ilonggo lechon used a very young
and soft-muscled pig, and had a tart
taste.
The salpicao was very tender, while
the very pronounced flavors of beef
and garlic worked in harmony. The
beef is served as tiny cubes, cut pre-
cisely to Mr. Anglos specication. The
result is an almost buttery texture in
the center of each cube.
Mr. Anglo best known for his stint
as one of the judges on Junior Master
Chef Philippines noted, Our cuisine
needs more exposure. Chefs like these
guys... are all mediums to promote and
to expose our humble, modest, [and]
shy cuisine. Its also our culture: were
kind of modest, were very apologetic...
we should be ballsy pero (but) make
sure its good.
The Best of Filipino Cuisine lunch
and dinner bufet at the Diamond Ho-
tel Corniche restaurant is ongoing
until May 23. For a minimum P5,000
spent on a single receipt at the bufet,
guests have a chance to win round trip
tickets for two to Coron, Palawan.
Joseph L. Garcia
Celebrity chefs push a shy cuisine
THE FEATURED chefs are (clockwise from top) Bruce Lim, Sau Del Rosario, Marko Rankel and
JP Anglo
THERES MORE to Malabon than
pancit Malabon, that staple of par-
ties, with its thick white noodles
and the gooey orange sauce.
Since last year, the historic
city has been playing host to new
restaurant concepts. On May 14,
guests were taken to a tour of some
of Malabons food stops, to get the
new avor of this old city.
JUDY ANNS CRISPY PATA
A Malabon original it has been
around since 1972. The recipe
comes from Remitio Antonio,
who named his restaurant after
his youngest daughter, Judy Ann.
Now, Judy Ann Francisco runs the
restaurant, and insists that the
recipe is a secret.
Aside from the crispy pata, the
restaurant also serves Chinese-
Filipino favorites such as pancit
canton and chop suey. Her crispy
pata, which Malabons Mayor An-
tolin Oreta III says is his favorite,
is indeed crispy and is tender
enough to slice with just a fork. The
skin displays sweet notes, which set
it apart from other crispy patas in
the market. The dish costs between
P500 to P550, while other items in
the small restaurants menu cost
from between P80 and P120.
PALMERAS BISTRO
Palmeras Bistro which opened
three years ago boasts of being
the rst ne-dining establishment
in Malabon. It has dim interiors,
bricks walls, and sepia-tinted
paintings of sights in Malabon.
The restaurant serves new ver-
sions of old favorites, such as
Tokwat Baboy Twist (P195), with
the pork and beancurd served as
long sticks instead of the usual
cubes. It also serves a Decon-
structed Fried Pla-Pla (P210),
essentially a deep-fried sh po-
sitioned in mid-swim, looking as
if the oil had caught the sh in its
nal agonies.
Everyones quick favorite was
the Shrimp Salpicao (P235) served
over fried rice, with the fresh
shrimps from Malabons famous
sh markets and some garlic pro-
viding very strong flavors and a
very memorable taste.
A lot of people say it has a cozy
air for a restaurant in Malabon.
Maybe thats our edge: were new,
said Restaurant Manager Jay
Robles,
COCINA LUNA
A square building with a black
interior and raw concrete ex-
teriors, Cocina Luna which
opened on Valentines Day this
year features framed sayings
in different hipster fonts and
pop and hiphop blare through
the speakers, commanding the
party to start.
This place was also endorsed
by Mr. Oreta for serving up his fa-
vorite Pulled Pork Sliders (P150).
We got a taste of the mayors fa-
vorite, served with a single onion
ring in the small sandwich, along
with a bucket of fries. It had a very
meaty avor, enhanced by hidden
squares of bacon.
It is also famous in the area for
its wet and juicy Beef Tapa (cured
meat; P120). Said chef-owner
Anna Katrina Alcala of the res-
taurant, Good vibes daw. Parang
wala sa Malabon. (People say it
has good vibes. Like its not in
Malabon.)
CUPS AND CONES
The guests were taken to Cups and
Cones, a white-walled tea and cof-
fee place which is also frequented
by the mayor, who confesses to
having a sweet tooth. It opened on
Dec. 20 last year, and serves cakes
(P120 to P140 per slice). The may-
or sat down here for cofee, cakes,
and interviews.
Oddly enough, the cozy cup
place also serves a dish that sounds
hardcore: horse tapa (P110) a bit
sweet, slightly gamey and smoky,
with a surprising hint of nuts, and
a slippery texture.
Mr. Oreta described the cof-
feeshop: Parang wala ka sa
Malabon eh. (Its like youre not
in Malabon.) He then added,
Kakaiba lang kasi, Malabon is
an old city (Its just diferent be-
cause Malabon is an old city). Its
like a province but its a city. If
you come in here (to Cups and
Cones), its very diferent, youre
like in Makati.
Mr. Oreta noted, For [the res-
taurant owners] to start a business
here, denitely they see the city na
umuunlad (prospering), and they
want to try it here.
The guests only got a taste of
the citys famous noodles at the
last stop, a sports complex named
after Mr. Oretas family. Com-
pared to pancit Malabons avail-
able outside Malabon, their home
court version tasted a bit tart,
lighter, and less greasy. Joseph
L. Garcia
Food tripping through Malabon
There is more to the town than pancit
JUDY ANNS CRISPY PATA
In print and online
Tel : +632 535 9901
Fax : +632 535 9940
E-mail : editor@bworldonline.com
Web site : www.bworldonline.com
Thursday, May 22, 2014 8/S2
EDITOR ALICIA A. HERRERA
WASHINGTON The secret to
the Mediterranean diet may be in
the salad.
Eating unsaturated fats, like
those in olive oil, along with leafy
greens and other vegetables cre-
ates a certain kind of fatty acid
that lowers blood pressure, scien-
tists said on Monday.
These nitro fatty acids are
formed when consuming spinach,
celery and carrots that are filled
with nitrates and nitrites, along
with avocado, nuts and olive oils
that contain healthy fats.
Nitro fatty acids appear to in-
hibit an enzyme known as soluble
epoxide hydrolase, which regu-
lates blood pressure, said the re-
search in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, a
peer-reviewed US journal.
The study was based on experi-
ments in lab mice, and was funded
by the British Heart Foundation.
The ndings of our study help to
explain why previous research has
shown that a Mediterranean diet
supplemented with extra-virgin
olive oil or nuts can reduce the in-
cidence of cardiovascular problems
like stroke, heart failure and heart
attacks, said Philip Eaton, profes-
sor of cardiovascular biochemistry
at Kings College London.
While most experts agree that
the Mediterranean diet which
consists of lots of vegetables, sh,
grains, red wine and fatty nuts and
oils brings health benets, there
has been little scientic consensus
about how or why.
Some have touted red wine as a
driving force behind the ability of
Europeans to eat high fat cheeses
and meats while maintaining bet-
ter overall health than Americans.
But research published last week
found that a key antioxidant in
red wine, resveratrol, did not help
people in Italy live longer or avoid
cancer or heart disease. AFP
Why olive oil lowers blood
pressure known
CAF @ SERENADE HALL
MAKATI: Penthouse, Golden Rock
Building 168 Salcedo St., Legaspi
Village, Makati City (Makati Central
Business District; right across the
Indonesian Embassy; with park-
ing along Sotto St. at the back of
the building: or Convergys open
parking with entrance along dela
Rosa Street)
Tel: 816-1564 / 816-2334
Mobile: 0905-4205235 cafe@ser-
enadehall.com
/Serenade Hall
www.serenadehall.com
OpenMontoFri from7:00AM- 5:00
PM Serves All-DayBreakfast, Lunch
& Merienda Dinner by Reserva-
tion We Cater We Accept Special
Functions
BOWLER RESTAURANT
Unit 2B, Paseo Parkview Tower,
Valero cor Sedeo St., Salcedo
Village, Makati City.
Tel: 894-3589
FB/bowler.restauarant
T/@bowlerrestobar1
www.bowlerrestobar.com
CAFEVEGIS AVEGETARIAN CAF
Moomba Plaza Mother, Ignacia.
Avenue, Quezon City.
Tel: 374-5598; Telefax: 431-9431
THE OASIS PACO PARK HOTEL
1032-34 Belen Street
Paco, Manila 1007 Philippines
Tel: 521-2371 to 75
Fax No. : 521-2393
frontdesk@oasispark.com
www.oasispark.com
GYU-KAKU
30th st. Corner 9th Avenue, Boni-
facio Global City, Taguig City
Tel: 553-5962
PF CHANGS
TAGUIG: 30th st. Corner 9th
Avenue, Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City
Tel: 664-5956 / 898-7389
MUNTILUPA: Corte, Alabang Town
Center. Tel: 869-7837 / 869-9810
/ 869-9776
MAD FOR GARLIC
30th st. Corner 9th Avenue, Boni-
facio Global City, Taguig City. Tel:
808-9517 / 808-9503
A LEGACY OF FINE FOOD
Lunch Buffet with Acoustic
Entertainment (11:30-2: 00 pm)
A Dinner Buffet with Cultural
Show(Performing Nightly 6:30-
9: 00 pm)
Tel: 527-3893 / 527-4086
/ 527-4083 / 788-3356
Plaza San Luis Complex,
Gen. Luna St.,
Intramuros Manila
barbarasfoods@yahoo.com
If you would like to be listed in this directory, please contact the Circulation Department at 535-9901 or e-mail: circ@bworldonline.com
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
MAKATI: Level 2, Greenbelt 5
Makati City
Tel: 401-7160 / 572-5965
2/F Archaeology, Powerplant Mall,
Rockwell Center makati City
Tel: 895-3447 / 895-5250
MUNTINLUPA: Activity Center,
Alabang Town Center Muntinlupa
City. Tel: 850-5771
MANDALUYONG: Level 5, Shangri-la
Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City
Tel: 687-7841 / 687-7842
QUEZON CITY: Level M3, Trinoma
Mall Quezon City.
Tel: 901-3881 / 901-3882
Ground Floor, Eastwood Mall
Quezon City
Tel: 584-0874 / 584-5150
SAN JUAN: G/F Promenade Mall,
Greenhills Shopping Center, San
Juan City. Tel: 725-7377
MANILA: 3/F Lucky Chinatown,
Binondo Manila.
Tel: 254-3151 / 254-3172
TAGUIG: WGlobal Center, 30th
Street Corner 9th Ave., Bonifacio
Global City. Tel: 668-3912
OLONGAPO CITY: Ground Level,
Promenade Harbor Point, Rizal
Highway, Subic Bay Freeport
Zone; Tel: (047) 251-1084
/ (047) 251-1085
DI MARKS
QUEZON CITY: Tomas Morato Ave.
Tel: 376-2828 / 376-5858 Com-
monwealth Royale Place Mall, Don
Antonio Ave., Commonwealth.
Tel: 932-5888 / 932-7888; MANILA:
2646 Taft Ave., Malate Manila Tel:
525-5354 / 404-0683
MANDALUYONG: 589 Wack Wack
Rd. Tel: 723-5008 / 723-6008;
SOUTH AREA: Casa Susana, Madri-
gal Bldg, Zapote Rd, Ala bang Tel:
842-4056 / 842-3343
MR. JONES
MAKATI: Phase2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala
Center. Tel: 501-3111
BAGOONG CLUB RESTO
QUEZON CITY: 122 Scout Dr. Lazca-
no, Sacred Heart Tel: 929-0544;
Telefax: 929-5450
MOJAVE GRILL &STEAK HOUSE
Avenue Complex, Glicerio Pison
Avenue, Brgy. San Rafael, Mandur-
riao, Iloilo City Tel: (033) 329-56-16
www.mojave grillnsteakhouse.com.
THE CHEESE STEAK SHOP
AMORSOLO: Philsteel Building 140
Amorsolo St. Legaspi
Village, Makati
FORT STRIP: G/F The Fort Strip
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
We Deliver! 555-0235 / 555-1818
(Makati CBD); 887-5151 (Fort)
www.cheesesteakshop.com.ph
FB:TheCheeseSteakShopManila
T:cheesesteakPH
BAUHINIA FILIPINO CUISINE
Avenue Complex, Glicerio
Pison Avenue, Brgy. San Ra fael,
Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Tel: (033) 329-69-51
www.bau hinialcuisine.com
NOTHING BUT DESSERTS
Avenue Complex, Glicerio Pison
Ave., Brgy. San Ra fael, Mandurriao,
Iloilo City.
Tel: (033)329-58-15
www.nothingbutdesserts.com.ph
QUIZNOS
Quiznos One Parkade, BHS
Taguig Quiznos Techno Plaza
2, Eastwood City, Libis Quiznos
Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa
Quiznos Greenbelt 3, Ayala
Center Makati Quiznos Regis
Center, Katipunan, Quezon
City Quiznos Shangri-La Plaza,
Mandaluyong City
KENNY ROGERS ROASTERS
MAKATI: Delco, 6F SLC Building
Ayala Avenue cor Herrera Street
Glo rietta 3, 2nd Level, Ayala
Center Powerplant Mall, Rockwell
Center, JP Rizal Street.
PARAAQUE: Columbia Complex
Food Center; Salu bungan Food
Court; New Duty Free Fiesta Mall,
Paraaque City.
MUNTINLUPA: Festival Super mall,
Alabang, Muntin lupa City.
MANILA: Robinsons Place Manila,
Padre Faura Street, Ermita, Manila
Roxas Blvd. cor. Cuneta, Baclaran.
QUEZON CITY: Katipunan Ave., 303
Katipunan Road
SM Fair view, Quirino Highway
cor. Regalado, Fairview Quezon
Avenue cor. Scout Albano Street
SM Cen ter point Robinsons Gal-
leria, Ortigas Avenue cor. EDSA.
CALOOCAN: Ever Gotesco Grand
Central, Grace Park,
Ca loo can City. SAN JUAN: Green-
hills Manila Arcade, Greenhills
Shopping Center, Ortigas Avenue.
PASAY: SM Mall of Asia, G/F,
South Wing.
TAGUIG: Market Market, 2/F, Global
Market Market, Fort Boni facio.
PAMPANGA: NLEX, Km62 Mega
Caltex, NLEX (Southbound) San
Fernando Robinsons Starmills,
San Fernando-Mexico Exit, San
Fernando SM City Clark.
CAVITE: Robinsons Imus, E. Agui-
naldo Highway, Tanzang Luma
SM Bacoor, Aguinal do Highway,
Bacoor, Cavite.
BATANGAS: SM Batangas, Brgy
Palyokan, Batangas City.
CEBU: Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu
Business Park.
DAVAO: Gaisano Mall Davao, Upper
G/F, Gaisano Mall, JP Laurel Avenue.
KING CHEF
987-989 Banawe Street
Quezon City.
Tel: 352-7534 /410-4919
/ 441-4177; Fax: 413-6619
GREEN MANGO
Valeria St., Iloilo City Tel: (033) 338-
20-14 E. Lopez St., Jaro, Iloilo City
Jaro Plaza, Iloilo City SM City
Mandurriao, Iloilo City Jalandoni
Gen, Luna Sts., Iloilo City Plaza
Libertad, Iloilo City
www.greenmango .com.ph
MUSEUM CAF
Ayala MuseumComplex, Makati
Avenue corner Dela Rosa St.,
Makati City, Philippines 1200
Tel: 757-3000 / 757-6000
/ 391-4197
museumcafe.com.ph
FB:/raintreemcafe
SAINTS ALP TEAHOUSE
BGC BRANCH: G/F Forbeswood
Parklane Rizal Drive, Bonifacio
Global City, Taguig. Tel. 478 -7135
KATIPUNANBRANCH: 2/F Regis
CenterKatipunan Avenue, Quezon
City. Tel: 990-2194
CONNECTICUT BRANCH:
Fox Square Connecticut Street
Greenhils, San Juan
BAR AND RESTAURANT
QUEZONCITY BRANCH:
69 Timog Avenue, corner Sct. Torrillo
Tel: 426-9773
CAINTABRANCH:
Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall (Back of
Don Henricos). Tel: 571-7531
GOLDEN BAY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
BlockA2, CBP, DiosdadoMacapagal
Boulevard Pasay City. Tel: 556-7525
TAPEO
The Fort Strip 7th Ave Corner 28th
Street Bonifacio Global City Taguig
City. Tel: 556-2668
Mobile No. (0922) 361-1210
FB:tapeo.ph
tapeo.manila@gmail.com
SOCIETY LOUNGE
Society Lounge Resto Bar
G/F AtriumOf Makati Bldg. Makati
Ave. cor. Paseo de Roxas, Makati
City Building (Between Manila Pen-
insula and Mandarin Hotel)
Opens Mon - Fri from10: 00 am-
2: 00 amAnd Saturdays from5:00
pm- 4:00 am
Tel: 408-1852; Mobile No.: 0917-
5061289 / 0917-8009474
FB/SocietyLounge
societylounge@yahoo.com
XO46 HERITAGE BISTRO
Ground Floor Le Grand Condo-
minium130 Valero St. Salcedo
Village, Makati City
For Reservation : (02)553-6632 /
553-6635 / 09267121983
OUR BRANCHES:
MAKATI CITY: XO46 New Vizayan
Room130 Valero St. Salcedo
Village Makati City
For Reservation: 553-6635
/0926-7121983
QUEZONCITY: Isla Caf (At
the garden area at the back
of elevator of Lung Center of
Philippines) Quezon Ave. Quezon
City; For Reservation: 624-6385 /
09175288324
PASAY CITY: Rajah Maynila
3rd Floor NAIA Terminal 3,
Departure area Pasay City
BONCHON CHICKEN
MAKATI: Ayala Triangle 621-6188 *
Greenbelt 1 659-8080 *
Petron Dasmarinas Village 403-
6673 * Alphaland Southgate
ORTIGAS: SMMegamall 451-1818
*SMMegmall Megastrip
*Robinsons Galleria 477-1818
*Shangri-la 696-1818
TAGUIG: BGC (One Parkade)
LAS PIAS: SMSouthmall
403-1096
MANDALUYONG: Liberty Shaw
MANILA: Taft 516-1818 * Lucky
Chinatown 708-5058 * SMManila
552-4230 * Robinsons Manila 354-
6838 * UST 353-7433 * 168 Mall *
SMSan Lazaro
MARIKINA: SMMarikina
PASAY: SMMOA 846-1818
QUEZONCITY: Acropolis 655-1818 *
Katipunan(Regis center) 442-1818 *
Tomas Morato(II Terrazzo)921-1818
* Trinoma 919-4777 * SMNorth
Edsa Annex 376-6175 * SMNorth
Edsa the block * SMFairview
376-1825 * Eastwood Citywalk
376-2933 * UP Technohub 709-
4945 * Araneta Center * Robinsons
Magnolia * SMSta.Mesa * SM
Novaliches
MUNTINLUPA: Alabang Town
Center 478-1818 * Festival Mall
SANJUAN: Greenhills
Promenade 661-1818
CAINTA: Sta.Lucia
CAVITE: SMDasmarinas
(046) 424-1671
CEBU: Ayala Terraces
(032) 266-2388
DAVAO: SMDavao Annex (082)
282-4419 * Abreeza
(800) 285-1704
OAKROOM RESTAURANT &BAR
6th Level, Oakwood Premier
Joy~Nostalg Center Manila, 17
ADB Avenue, Pasig City 1600 Tel:
637-7888 / 910-8888 ext. 8604
premiermanila @ oak woodasia.com;
oakwood.com
SUGARLEAF
SAN JUAN: G/F Health Cube
Building, 226 Wilson Street, West
Greenhills, San Juan,
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel: 661-6639
MAKATI: G/-2/F MEDICard Life-
style Center, 51 Paseo de Roxas
corner Sen. Gil Puyat
Avenue, Urdaneta Village, Makati
City. Tel: 812-7323
www.sugarleafph.com
MARIOS
QUEZON CITY:
191 Tomas Morato Ave., cor.Scout
Gandia, Quezon City
Tel: 415-3887 / 376-6210 / 372-
0360 Fax No. : 372-0352
BAGUIO CITY:
Upper Session Rd., Baguio City
Tel: (074)442-4241
Fax No. : (074) 442-5445
WE CATER
For those occasions when you
want the best,
call Marios for catering.
AUBERGINE RESTAURANT
2/F 32nd&5thBuilding5thAvenue
corner 32ndSt. Fort Bonifacio, 1634
Taguig City.
Tel: 856-9888; Fax: 856-3455
Mobile: (0917) 557-1675
(0949) 641-9468
dine@aubergine.ph
www.aubergine.ph
ALFREDOS STEAKS
Tomas Morato Ave. Quezon City
Tel : 374-3576 / 412-7137; Tele fax:
413-7820
IZUMI CURRY GRILL
The Podium5th Level Ortigas
Center Pasig City.
Tel: 571-7992
Mobile: (0925) 878-0321
ILLUMINE RESTAURANT
5/Flr. Waltermart Mall,Chino Roces
Ave.cor. Arnaiz Ave. Makati City.
Tel: 887-5329; Fax: 889-1707
www.mihca.com.ph
CHEFLAUDICOBISTROFILIPINO
G/F Net2 Bldg, 28th St. cor. 3rd
Ave., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Tel: 856-0634
CHEF LAUDICOS BFAST
Shop 3,Restaurants at the Ayala
TriangleGardens, AyalaAvenuecor.
Paseo de Roxas Makati City
Tel: 621-6100
chaeaudico@gmail.com
cheaudico@yahoo.com
FEZ RESTOBAR
Unit C07-A, Serendra Commercial,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Tel: 901-1840
FB/fez.restobar; T/ @FezRestobar
Delivery Address: Resto Address
JOHNNY ROCKETS
EASTWOOD MALL: Ground Floor,
Eastwood Mall Veranda, Eastwood
City, Libis, Quezon City.
Tel: 470-2117/ 470-2208
TOMAS MORATO: 205 Jr Building 1
Tomas Morato Avenue Barangay
Laging Handa, Quezon City.
Tel: 352-0693
ROBI NSONS GALLERI A: Level 2
Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, Edsa
Cor. Ortigas Ave. Quezon City. Tel:
477-6501
BURGOS CIRCLE: Unit Ws-1 Burgos
Circle Forbes Town Center, Rizal
Drive Cor. West Crescent Park, Fort
Bonifacio, Taguig 1634.
Tel: 836-9546
ALABANG TOWN CENTER: Lower
Ground Floor, The Street Of The
Alabang Town Center, Alabang
Muntinlupa City. Tel: 478-9297
HARBOR POINT SUBIC: Space No.
1122, Ground Floor, Harbor Point
Mall Rizal Highway, Cbd, Subic Bay
Freeport Zone 2200
Tel: (+6347) 478-9297
www.johnnyrockets.com.ph
FB/johnnyrocketsphil
T/ JohnnyRockets01
AKIRA
ART OF SUSHI &TEPPANYAKI
Ground Floor, Alphaland Makati
Place, Malugay St.corner Ayala Av-
enue Ext.Makati. (Across The Col-
umns & Makati Fire Station, near
RCBC & Makati Med)1st Restau-
rant conceptualized by World
Renowned Industrial Designer,
Kenneth Cobonpue.
For inquiries & reservations,
call Mobile: 09177067328
UNCLE CHEFFY
EASTWOOD: Level 2EastwoodMall,
Eastwood City Cyberpark
E. Rodriguez Jr.Ave. Q.C.
Tel: 383-7215; TeleF: 470-2750
QUEZON AVE:5A Centris Walk
Edsa cor. Quezon Ave.Q.C.
Tel: 376-0051
QUEZON CITY: Robinsons
Magnolia Q.C.
MANDALUYONG: Greenelds
Business Hub Mandaluyong City.
BINONDO: Lucky Chinatown Mall,
21 Reina Regiente St. Binondo
Mla. Tel: 268-1150
ALI MALL: Phase 1 Araneta Ctr.
Cubao Q.C. Tel: 709-4105
Fax: 709-4104
ORTIGAS: 2nd Flr.Wynsum Plaza,
Ruby Road Ortigas Ctr. Pasig
Tel: 696-6958; Fax: 696-6957
BELLAGIO: Forbes Road-II
Forbes Town Ctr. Rizal Drive
cor Burgos Circle Bonifacio
Global City.
Tel: 659-8030; Fax: 709-4104
MOA: ECOM II,4th r.E-COM Bldg.
Mall of Asia complex, Ocean
Drive Pasay City. Tel: 478-0584
BATANGAS: Lipa City
Tel: (043) 757-6201
ALABANG: Molito Commercial
Complex,Alabang Muntinlupa City.
LAGUNA: U-20A01 -20B01 Solenad
Nuvali Tagaytay Rd.
Sta.Rosa Laguna
Tel: (049) 5025970/5025968
FB/UNCLE CHEFFY
Catering Inquiries: (0920)924-3044
MR. CHOI KITCHEN
ROBINSONS GALLERIA: Level 2,
East Wing, Robinsons Galleria
Edsa Cor. Ortigas Ave. Quezon
City. Tel: 638-4523;
Fax: 638-4867
ROBINSONS FORUM: Upper
Ground Floor, Robinsons Place
Pioneer #30 Edsa Cor.
Pioneer St. Mandaluyong City
Tel: 687-6602; Fax: 687-2691
ROBINSONS MAGNOLIA: Level 2
Aurora Boulevard. cor Dona
Hemady & N. Domingo St. New
Manila, Quezon City. Tel: 961-1451
WALTER MART (MAKATI): Ground
Floor, 790 Chino Roces Ave., Cor.
Antonio Arnaiz,
Makati City
Tel: 889-9948; Fax: 889-9948
Delivery Hotline: 87878
Or log on to: www.citydelivery.
com.ph(Makati, Greenhills and
Ortigas ONLY)
MALATE: Level 1, Padre Faura
Wing, Robinsons Ermita Place,
Manila. Tel: 526-890
CHEFS QUARTER
MANILA: Level 1 Midtown Wing,
Robinsons Place Manila, Adriatico
cor Pedro Gil Sts., Ermita Manila
Tel: 382-3449 / 381-7716
Telefax: 567-1910
FB/CHEFS QUARTER (MALATE
BRANCH)
MEGAMALL: Level 3 Mega Atrium,
SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City
Tel:401-3658
Telefax: 706-5336
FB/CHEFS QUARTER (MEGAMALL
BRANCH)
FOR CATERING INQUIRIES PLEASE
CONTACT: (0926) 743-8863 / (0920)
924-3044
BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP CO.
2ndLevel, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center
Makati City Philippines
Tel: (02) 757-51-54; Fax: (02) 729-72-77
Email : customer@bubbagump.com.ph
Website: www.bubbagump.com.ph
MARCIANOS
Unit 1173 Ground Floor, Food-
street, SM Southmall
Tel: 511-0330
Mobile: 0917-5173714
FB/Marcianosph; T/ Marcianosph
SUMOSAM
Shangri -La 910- 0388/637-5704
Rockwell 895-7532/729-6292
Greenbelt 3 903-0847 Trinoma
901-3262 SM Megamall 654-4508
SM Mall of Asia 0916-2338481
Gateway, Cubao 376-4833 ThePo-
dium 625-2191 Lucky Chinatown
755-3022 / 755-3049 Greenhills
TownCenter 655-2051 Robinsons
Magnolia 654- 6813 SMSouthmall
Harbor Point Subic (47) 251-1014
Abreeza Davao (82) 321-6972 SM
City Annex Davao (82)295-3272
Ayala Terraces Cebu (32) 4016813
MarqueePampanga(045) 304-0847
Nuvali Laguna (049) 3032600 SM
Lanang Premier Davao
(82) 295-7780
PIZZA PEDRICOS
GMA & LUZON BRANCHES:
3NNaga Central Mall Bilian Cher-
ry Antipolo Ever Commonwealth
Ever Recto Funranch Green-
hills Shopping Center Isetann
Recto JackmanCaloocan Market!
Market! Pioneer Supermarket
Puregold Balintawak Puregold
Blumentritt PuregoldCabanatuan
Puregold Guiguinto Puregold
Naga Puregold Pagsanjan Pure-
gold Palawan Puregold San Pablo
Puregold Tagapo Robinsons
Forum Shopwise Alabang Shop-
wise Araneta Shopwise Common-
wealth Shopwise Imus Shopwise
Libis Shopwise, Pacita SMBaguio
SMCity Bacoor SMCity Naga SM
City Sta. Rosa SM Las Pinas SM
Mall of Asia SM Megamall Carpark
SM Muntinlupa (Tunasan) South
Supermarket lmus South Super-
market Sta. Rosa Super 8 Baclaran
Super 8Visayas Waltermart ERod
Waltermart Munoz Waltermart Sta.
Rosa Waltermart Tanauan
VISAYAS BRANCHES:
Dipolog Dream 21 / China Town
Bacolod Emall GroundFloor [mall
Food Court Fiesta Mall Fooda
Mango Gaisano Casuntingan
Gai sano Grand Mactan SMKT
Gaisano Island Mall Mactan Gai-
sano Minglanilla Gaisano Tisa La
Nueva SMKT Lopues East Metro
Ayala Metro Colon Metro Store
Lapu-Lapu Park Mall Robinsons
Bacolod Shopwise Cebu Duma-
guete SMKT SM 2nd Floor SM
Bacolod SM Terminal South Cen-
tral Super Metro Mandaue Tisa
MINDANAO BRANCHES:
Abreeza Mall Ateneo Zambo-
anga City Triangle GaisanoGrand
Digos Gaisano Grand Illustre
Gaisano Grand Marbel Gaisano
GrandPanabo KCCGensan NCCC
Center Point NCCC Main NCCC
Mall NCCC Panacan Puregold
CDO Rustans Centrio San Franz
Agusan San Jose Zamboanga
ShopwiseLimketkai SMDavao SM
Gensan SMLanang Time Square
Warehouse Matina

BANAPPLE
Northeast Square, 47 Connecticut
St., Northeast Greenhills, San Juan
City; Tel. 477-2675 Tuscany at
Mckinley Hill; Tel. 837-2675 225
Katipunan Avenue Q.C. ; Tel. 439-
2675 206 Katipunan Ave. Blue
Ridge Q.C. ; Tel. 438-2675 2nd
Level IL Terrazzo, Tomas Morato
Q.C. ; Tel. 413-2675 Ayala Triangle
Gardens, Ayala Ave. Makati City;
Tel. 756-2675 New Wing Alabang
Town Center, Alabang Muntinlipa
City; Tel: 828-2675 Market! Mar-
ket! G/F Fort Bonifacio Taguig.
SANDWICHEESE
For extraordinary sauce salads
& sandwiches visit Banapples
Little brother just next to the
original Banapple in Katipunan
225 Katipunan Avenue, Brgy.Mila-
grosa, Quezon City; Tel. 440-3677
Market! Market! BGC.
CAFE VIA MARE
Makati Greenbelt 1 Tel: 815-1918
The Landmark Tel: 817-9720
Paraaque BF Homes Tel: 403-
6223 Quezon City Landmark
Trinoma Tel: 441-0643/441-0557
Eastwood Mall Tel: 709-3006 /
709-3005
DULCINEA
MAKATI: Glorietta 4 2/F Ayala Cen-
ter San Lorenzo Village, Makati Tel:
817-7074 Greenbelt 5, G/F Ayala
Center Makati City Tel: 752-7110
Rockwell Powerplant Tel: 756-5043.
MUNTILUPA: Casa Susana Building,
Madrigal Ayala Alabang, Muntin-
lupa City. Tel: 842-4381.
QUEZON CITY: 282 Tomas Morato
Avenue, Brgy. Sacred Heart, Q.C.
Tel: 920-7892 to 93 ALI MALL U/G
Araneta Center 709-2674 LIBIS
(East wood) City Walk 1 Eastwood
Libis (0926) 698-4718.
MANDALUYONG: SM Mega mal l
Mega Atrium4/F. Tel: 634-0612

MOOMBA
Mother Ignacia Street corner Roces
Avenue Tel: 431-9431
TERRAZ MEETINGS &BISTRO
3rd Floor Zuellig Building
Makati Avenue, corner Paseo de
Roxas Avenue, Makati City.
IHOP
TAGUIG: 30th st. Corner 9th Ave-
nue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
City. Tel: 808-9589 / 808-9515
QUEZONCITY: UP Town Center Kati-
punan Ave. Diliman, Quezon City
MORELLIS GELATO
MAKATI: Power Plant Mall, Rock-
well Drive Corner Estrella st. City
of Makati.
MANDALUYONG: Mid-level 2/3,
East Wing, Shangri-la Plaza EDSA
Corner Shaw Boulevard
Mandaluyong City. Tel: 654-4062
BANZAI
THE GREATTEPPANYAKI THEATER
Building J By The Bay Leisure Park
Seaside Blvd. SM Mall of Asia
Complex Pasay City.
The newest, all authentic ,all
unlimited Japanese Buffet
Mon-Fri Eat & Drink all you can
(Dinner) public holiday not
included; Sat-Sun Eat & Drink all
you can (lunch & Dinner) public
holiday not included
Buffet for Kids children below 4.5
Ft Php 499, below 3.5 Ft. FREE
Left over price Php 1,288
It can accommodate 350 to 400
pax in one seating; For table
reservations and corporate
bookings Please call 0917-7067328
or 552-73-68
MY SINGAPORE
Unit 256 2nd Floor SM Megamall
Bridgeway.
Tel. /Fax: 4704546
Mobile: 0917-4721282
FB/mysingaporefoodstreet
www.mysingaporefoodstreet.ph
AMALFI CUCINA ITALIANA
Avenue Complex, Glicerio Pison
Avenue, Brgy. San Rafael,
Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
Tel: (033) 329-5289
The
Lunch
Going out to lunch? Let our directory
of select restaurants help you decide
where to enjoy your next meal.
Guide
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S2/9
EDITOR JOSIELYN B. LUNA
Several methods can be used for
genetic testing, including molecu-
lar genetic tests or gene tests, in
which single genes or short lengths
of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are
studied to identify variations or
mutations that lead to a genetic dis-
order; chromosomal genetic tests,
in which whole chromosomes or
long lengths of DNA are analyzed to
see if there are large genetic chang-
es such as an extra copy of a chro-
mosome that can cause a genetic
condition; and biochemical genetic
tests, in which the amount or activ-
ity level of proteins are studied, and
abnormalities found in either can
indicate changes to the DNA that
result in a genetic disorder.
Chromosomal studies are avail-
able in only three institutions, name-
ly the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), University of the Philippines
Manila; St. Lukes Medical Center;
and the National Kidney and Trans-
plant Institute, while biochemical
testing is available exclusively at
the NIH. Molecular testing for
some conditions, on the other hand,
is available in some institutions,
but most are on a research basis.
For Dr. Padilla, these tests are
available in the Philippines only in
a limited sense, primarily because
the tests require special equipment
and specially trained staf.
She explained that chromosom-
al and biochemical testing are not
free, and the cost of the tests may
be deemed expensive by an ordi-
nary Filipino family. Only NIH
provides a charity rate for indigent
patients, she said.
On the other hand, since most
of molecular testing is done for the
purpose of research, the service is
free to patients.
Newborn screening a procedure
usually covered by PhilHealth
which screens a newborn for
a select number of meta-
bolic conditions is the only
population-based testing that
is available in all hospitals in
the country. Dr. Padilla said it is
important for this procedure to be
available and accessible to all Fili-
pinos because certain conditions or
diseases may still be treated.
Prompt treatment can reverse
the complications like mental re-
tardation or death, she said.
She noted, however, that other
genetic tests should be done only
if the patient really needs them.
Typically, a geneticist assists
in deciding what additional
tests are needed, and when
genetic tests are done, it is
recommended that the pa-
tient goes through pre- and
post-testing genetic counseling.
Even a normal result has many
implications. It is unfortunate that
we have only nine geneticists in the
country to serve 90 million people,
Dr. Padilla said.
According to her, the country
needs more students and educators
to take a special interest in genetics
and genomics.
The next generation of students
must realize that these fields are
important for the country. World-
wide now, there is a pool of geneti-
cists and genomic experts in every
country to study conditions that
are of special interest in the popula-
tion. We need this pool also in the
Philippines, she concluded.
WHILE THE CONCEPT of genetic
testing is not entirely new in the
Philippines, there is an unfamil-
iarity among Filipinos regarding
its availability, accessibility, and
relevance here in the country.
Genetic testing is a type of medi-
cal test that identifies changes in
chromosomes, genes or proteins.
According to Dr. Carmencita Pa-
dilla, executive director of the
Philippine Genome Center, genetic
testing cannot stand alone, and is
in fact part of a bigger picture called
genetic services or the activities for
the diagnosis, care, and prevention
of genetic diseases.
In an interview with Business-
World, Dr. Padilla said the results
of a genetic test can confirm or
rule out a suspected genetic condi-
tion or help determine a persons
chance of developing or passing on
a genetic disorder.
Say I have three generations
of women with breast cancer: my
mother, my aunt, and my grand-
mother. How does genetic testing
help me? Through genetic testing,
it is possible to look for a marker
linked to cancer that is common
to the three of them. If I happen
to have the marker, I can con-
duct the necessary screening and
undergo regular testing earlier,
compared to other relatives who
do not have the marker, she ex-
plained.
More than 1,000 genetic tests
are currently in use, she added, and
more are being developed.
Screening the gene
By April Paulyn B. Roque
Special Features Assistant Editor
Thursday, May 22, 2014
10/S2
EDITOR JOSIELYN B. LUNA
Meet the Specialist
Genetically destined
ALMOST THREE decades ago, Dr.
Carmencita David-Padilla, then a
young faculty member at the Univer-
sity of the Philippines Manila, had to
alter the course of her life and career
forever.
She was swayed by her four seniors
to change her plan of study from neo-
natology, a specialty dedicated to the
care of newborn infants, to genetics.
It was as if Dr. Padilla was destined
to become a geneticist. Prior to that
fateful day, the only geneticist at the
Philippine General Hospital (PGH)
passed away and a friend of hers,
who was set to pursue genetics, had a
change of heart after getting married.
Although a very difcult decision
to pursue a road less traveled, I said
Yes, she wrote in her forthcoming
book. But now, I have no regrets. I am
happy I made that difficult decision
in 1987.
That decisive moment in her life is
certainly something that she would
never regret almost 30 years after. She
became who she is now because of it a
woman whos serving thousands of
patients and saving thousands of lives.
By Francis Anthony T. Valentin
Today, Dr. Padilla is widely regard-
ed as a pioneer and a leading gure in
the eld of genetics in the Philippines.
But her journey to becoming a leading
light only formally began when she
returned to the country after under-
taking a fellowship in Australia.
Upon my return, I had the solo
responsibility of setting up genetic
clinical services at the PGH and vari-
ous genetic laboratories that were
eventually moved to the National In-
stitutes of Health (NIH), she said in
an e-mail to BusinessWorld.
She rst established a cytogenetics
laboratory in 1990, the rst newborn
screening laboratory in 1997, a bio-
chemical genetics laboratory in 1999,
and a molecular genetics laboratory
in 2000. These laboratories have be-
come central in accurately diagnosing
patients with genetic disorders.
But Dr. Padillas most enduring
feat is the creation of the Newborn
Screening (NBS) services, a public
health program for the early identi-
cation of genetic disorders that could
lead to retardation and death among
infants. Together with several col-
leagues, she initially introduced the
services to 24 hospitals throughout
Metro Manila in 1996.
Armed with perseverance, she de-
sired to expand further the reach of
the screening services by drafting
and proposing a bill. Her relentless
lobbying efforts culminated in the
enactment of the Newborn Screening
Act (Republic Act 9288), which was
signed into law in 2004. Ofcially, the
newborn screening services were in-
tegrated in the public health delivery
system of the Department of Health
(DoH).
From 24, there are now over 5,000
hospitals ofering newborn screening
services. Most importantly, according
to DoH, from 1996 to 2010, more than
45,000 lives were saved.
At present, Dr. Padi l la heads
the Newborn Screening Reference
Center, wherein she continues to set
up newborn screening laboratories
around the archipelago to bolster the
newborn screening program. Also, re-
cently, she has taken the role of being
the executive director of the Philip-
pine Genome Center, which aims to
advance genomics in the country.
Dr. Padillas successes have never
gone unnoticed. She has been col-
lecting awards for her contributions
in the discipline of genetics. Some of
her accolades include the Outstand-
ing Science Administrator Award
and Concepcion Dadufalza Award
for Distinguished Achievement, both
conferred in 2012 alone.
CANCER IS a leading cause of
death worldwide according to the
World Health Organization. Al-
though the cure for this lethal dis-
ease remains evasive, physicians
have come up with a handful of
theories to shed light on its origin
and have searched high and low
for feasible treatments.
For the past decades, scientists
and doctors have been research-
ing on the positive efects of gene
therapy by utilizing the genetic
material inside a persons cells
to treat or reverse the process of
cancer.
In 2003, Chinese biotechnol-
ogy company Shenzhen SiBiono
GeneTech Co., Ltd. publicly intro-
duced a gene therapy drug called
Gendicine after Chinas State
Food and Drug Administration
approved it. Gendicine is a recom-
binant adenovirus-based vector
that contains the human p53 gene
and is the worlds first commer-
DR. CARMENCITA DAVID-PADILLA
Yet, she recognizes that not every-
thing goes smoothly. As a clinician
(geneticist), the biggest challenge is
providing access to all Filipino pa-
tients who need our expertise, Dr.
Padilla said. Currently, according
to her, there are only nine clinical
geneticists in the country. To solve
this, she has suggested to DoH the
launching of regional clinics and us-
age of telegenetics (genetic services
via a computer network) to provide
the public access to their expertise.
Being in charge of several posts,
she also contends with funding con-
straints. As an administrator, my
challenge is funding for sustainabil-
ity of the ofce, she said. To ensure
that genetic services are accessed by
patients from all social strata, govern-
ment engagement is very important.
Nothing can seem to hinder her,
however, from pursuing her goals.
For instance, Dr. Padilla is once again
in the process of petitioning for the
passage of a bill known as the Rare
Disease Act. It seeks to aford patients
with rare diseases access to health
information and vital medications.
Once it gets ratied, she will have
another afrmation that becoming a
geneticist is indeed her calling.
By Erika Denise L. Dizon
Therapeutic genes for cancer
cial gene therapy that can repair
the normal p53 gene function in
cancer cells.
Dr. David Dy, surgical oncolo-
gist at St. Lukes Medical Center,
explained the principle behind
Gendicine. Basic science tells us
that the human body is composed
of countless cells. According to
him, within each cell are genes
that contain deoxyribonucleic
acid (or what we all know as DNA)
where the human genetic code is
inscribed.
The genetic code is like a
computer program. It indicates if
your hair will be black or blonde,
depending on what you will in-
herit. It is programmed in your
genes, Dr. Dy said in an interview
with BusinessWorld. But there are
also certain genes that program
a person to develop certain can-
cers. Among those are the cancer-
causing genes called oncogenes,
which are usually activated by
carcinogens.
Also located in each cell is the
p53 gene. Based on studies, the
p53 gene is one of the most im-
portant tumor-suppressor genes
existing in normal cells because it
has several anti-tumor functions
that prevents or stops the forma-
tion of cancer. P53 is just one of
the genes inside a cell. If the cell is
developing and becoming cancer-
ous, what p53 will do is initiate a
self-destruct sequence so that
the growing cancer cell will die,
he said. This programmed cell
death is termed as apoptosis.
Dr. Dy noted that lifestyle and
environmental factors could ren-
der a persons p53 gene defective.
Once the p53 is inoperative, it
could not counteract the onco-
genes anymore, thus letting the
cancer cell swell and multiply.
OVER THE past decades, there have
been signicant strides to comprehend
the human genome. And in 2003, the
Human Genome Project (HGP), a multi-
national research program, achieved its
goal to map out and identify all the genes
of the human being and nally gained,
as experts say, the ability to understand
natures genetic blueprint for building a
human being.
According to Dr. Carmencita Padil-
la, executive director of the Philippine
Genome Center, achievements like the
success of the HGP will pave the way
for seemingly boundless progress in the
elds of medicine, biotechnology, and life
sciences.
In medicine, for instance, advance-
ments in genomics would lead to further
studies of complex diseases. In the eld
of the medical sciences, the major impact
of the human genome project is the dis-
covery of genes associated with human
diseases, Dr. Padilla said in an e-mail to
BusinessWorld.
The interplay of genetics and the en-
vironment in certain diseases like Type
2 diabetes and coronary heart diseases
has helped in the better understand-
ing in the prevention and detection of
complex diseases, she said.Recent de-
velopments in genomics research have
The inward voyage
boosted progress in the discovery of
susceptibility of genes and fueled expec-
tations about opportunities of genetic
proling for personalizing medicine.
Personalized medicine requires a fairly
accurately test that predicts disease
risk, particularly when interventions
are invasive, expensive or have major
side efects.
DNA-based tests, Dr. Padilla said, are
among the rst commercial medical ap-
plications of the new genetic discoveries.
Gene tests can be used to diagnose and
conrm diseases, even in asymptomatic
individuals.
This will provide prognostic infor-
mation about the course of disease, and,
with varying degrees of accuracy, predict
the risk of future disease in healthy indi-
viduals or their progeny, she said.
Today, there are several types of ge-
netic testing that are clinically available
and a number of others are still being
developed. Findings of these tests will al-
low patients to take preventive measures
even before symptoms of the disease
manifest.
Recently, tests have been devel-
oped to detect mutations for a hand-
ful of more complex conditions such
as breast, ovarian, and colon cancers.
Although they have limitations, these
tests sometimes are used to make risk
estimates in pre-symptomatic individ-
uals with a family history of the disor-
der, Dr. Padilla said. For pre-symp-
tomatic individuals carrying a gene for
cancer, they have the benefit of under-
going early screening and regular fol-
low-ups before symptoms set in. This
information could prevent thousands
of deaths each year.
These gene tests, however, are not uni-
versal. The belief that tests available in
other countries and are used for diferent
populations may be applicable to Filipi-
nos are among the many misconceptions
about genetic testing, according to Dr.
Padilla.
A scientic limitation is that the
tests may not detect every mutation as-
sociated with a particular condition
many are as yet undiscovered and the
ones they do detect may present difer-
ent risks to various people and popula-
tions, she said. This means that gene
tests available in the US and other coun-
tries are not automatically applicable
to the Filipino population. Validation
tests in the Filipino population must be
done.
Geneticists and genetic counselors
also play a vital role in genetic testing.
Since these tests may reveal information
about individuals and their families, re-
sults can afect family dynamics and have
signicant emotional and psychological
impacts. These counseling sessions en-
sure that the patient understands the im-
plications of genetic testing.
It is important that genetic counsel-
ing is done before the testing and after
the testing. During a genetic counseling
session, the individual who is considering
genetic testing is given basic background
knowledge about genetics, the inheri-
tance of condition, and the testing pro-
cedure, Dr. Padilla said. These prelimi-
nary sessions ensure that the individual
understands the clinical and psychologi-
cal implications of genetic testing and is
prepared to receive the test results.
Meanwhile, advancements in genom-
ics are also seen to improve capabilities
in pharmacology. According to Dr. Padil-
la, this will lead to the emergence of per-
sonalized medicine drugs customized
for specic populations.
More than 100,000 people die each
year from adverse responses to medica-
tions that may be benecial to others.
Another 2.2 million experience serious
reactions, while others fail to respond
at all, said Dr. Padilla. Genomics re-
searchers have been able to correlate
changes DNA variants or changes in the
sequence with individual responses to
medical treatments.
Genomic data and technologies
can make drug development faster,
cheaper, and more effective, she added.
New drugs aimed at specific sites in
the body and at particular biochemi-
cal events leading to disease, probably
will cause fewer side effects than many
current medicines. Ideally, genomic
drugs could be given earlier in the dis-
ease process.
When you check cancers,
most of them have defective
p53s, Dr. Dy added. The prob-
lem is: How do you put p53 into a
person with cancer?
Research has shown that one
way to let p53 penetrate success-
fully inside a cell is through let-
ting it ride on a virus. Gendicine
uses the adenovirus as a vehicle
for the p53 to pierce through the
cancer cell. Dr. Dy claried that
the adenovirus is the simple cold
virus, which is typically conta-
gious but not deadly. Once the
virus with the therapeutic gene
is injected into a patients tumor,
the virus will then enter its target
cell and bring the p53 into the cell
nucleus where the p53 will initi-
ate its self-destruct sequence to
kill the cancer cell.
Dr. Dy recommends Gen-
dicine to patients with advanced
cases of cancer and solid tumors,
at best, as it is only available to
cancer patients in the Philippines
under compassionate grounds
asmandated by the Department of
Healths Administrative Order No.
4 s. 1992 entitled, Policy and Re-
quirements for Availing of Com-
passionate Special Permit (CSP)
for Restricted Use of Unregistered
Drug and Device/Product Prepa-
ration. This means that cancer
patients who wish to undergo gene
therapy should seek approval from
the Food and Drug Administration
rst because the drug has not been
approved in the country yet.
He estimated that over 40 cancer
patients have already been treated
by Gendicine in Philippines, while
more than 16,000 patients have
received the injection worldwide.
Furthermore, a recent study stated
that there have been no recorded
adverse efects of the drug yet.
Dr. Dy said that gene therapy
is a promising treatment but is
not for everybody as it only works
on a case-by-case basis. Most
people want to live longer. Its un-
derstandable. This is one option
thats not guaranteed, but it is not
also hocus-pocus because theres
real science to it, he added.
By Don Joseph J. Dejaresco
Special Features Writer
Thursday, May 22, 2014
VOL XXVII ISSUE 207 ISSN0116-3930
This advertisement has been placed by BusinessWorld
Angry economics students
are naive and mostly right
Students of economics are in revolt
again.
A few years ago, even before the crisis,
they established an autistic economics
network. After the crisis, in 2011, a Har-
vard class staged a walkout from Gregory
Mankiws introductory course. That course
forms the basis of textbooks prescribed in
universities around the world. This year, 65
groups of students from 30 countries estab-
lished an International Student Initiative
for Pluralism in Economics.
In no other subject do students express
such organized dissatisfaction with their
teaching.
It seems, however, to little lasting efect.
Impermanence is inherent in student life:
they don suits, collect their rst salary and
leave their complaints behind until the
same gripes are rediscovered by a new group
of 19-year-olds with similar naive hopes of
changing the world. Still, recurrent dissatis-
faction among both students and employers
suggests they have a point.
One cause of the problem is not specic
to economics. Modern universities prize
research above teaching, to a degree that
would astonish people outside the system,
who imagine its primary purpose is to edu-
cate the young.
In reality, teaching ability plays a negli-
gible role in university hiring, tenure and
promotion decisions. Many academic staf
regard teaching as a nuisance that gets in the
way of their own work. If most students
were not having such a good time outside
the classroom, they would be angrier than
they are. They should be.
A problem specific to economics is that
students suspect the material they are
taught is designed to ofer intellectual cover
for rightwing ideology. This belief was plain-
ly the motivation for the Harvard walkout
and there is some truth in the critique.
Professor Mankiw was for a time chairman
of George W. Bushs Council of Economic
Advisers. Economics teaching encourages
students to think of a world of self-interest-
ed individuals and prot-oriented company
but Prof. Mankiws conservatism puts him
in a minority: in common with academics
generally, most economics professors are
probably mildly to the left of the political
spectrum.
As are their students. The real burden of
their complaint is not a political protest.
As I did, they chose to study economics in
the hope of solving, or at least understand-
ing, real world problems: poverty, inequal-
ity, ination and nancial crises. But their
classroom experience is narrower and less
satisfying than mine was.
They find themselves engaged in rote
learning of models based on rational choice.
They are fobbed off with assurances that
acquisition of these skills is a necessary
foundation for understanding of the great
issues of the day; but somehow these great
issues never make it into the curriculum.
They suspect, rightly, that many of their
teachers are not much interested. This is the
burden of a powerful and detailed critique
of their course prepared by students at the
University of Manchester.
Their demand for more pluralism in the
economics curriculum is well made. Yet
much of the heterodox economics the
Manchester students suggest including is
aky, the creation of people with their own
political agenda, whether Marxist or neo-
liberal; or of those who cannot do the math-
ematics the dominant rational choice para-
digm requires. Their professors reject the
introduction of these alternative schemes
for the same good reasons their science
colleagues would reject phlogiston theory or
creationism.
Yet teachers are mistaken in their confor-
mity to a single methodological approach
encapsulated in the claim that has taken
hold in the past four decades that approach-
es not based on rational choice foundations
are unscientific or not economics. The
need is not so much to teach alternative
paradigms of economics as to teach that
pragmatism, not paradigm, is the key to
economic understanding.
This eclecticism is reflected in the cur-
riculum proposals being developed by the
Institute for New Economic Thinking, led
by Professor Wendy Carlin of University
College London, on whose advisory board I
sit. The subject of economics is not a method
of analysis but a set of problems the prob-
lems that drew students to the subject in the
rst place. The proper scope of economics is
any and all ideas that bear usefully on these
topics: just as the proper scope of
medicine is any and all therapies that
help the patient.
By John Kay
Gamble, S3/2
By Daniel Schafer and Alice Ross sought to use their stronger
capital position to lure custom-
ers from Deutsche, warning po-
tential clients that the German
lender was not in full financial
health. Mr. Jain knew he needed
to counter this if he were to at-
tract former Barclays customers.
The equity raising is not the
only way in which Mr. Jain is sig-
nalling his determination to com-
pete with the big US banks, which
are better capitalized thanks to
several hundred billion dollars
raised with state help in 2009. He
is investing while his European
rivals cut back, hiring fixed-in-
come traders from Barclays and
other banks in an efort to regain
ground from Wall Street.
Mr. Jains decision to double
down on investment banking
comes as most other large rivals
in Europe bar the French have
capitulated in the face of tougher
regulations. Trading margins are
down, a sharp cyclical downturn
has eaten away at fixed-income
and currencies trading, and
stricter limits on the amount of
debt banks can hold has curbed
risk-taking as well as potential
prots. It is also taking place at
a time when the universal bank-
ing model itself is under scrutiny
amid regulatory and political ef-
forts to ringfence risky trading
activities from deposit taking.
But investors question whether
Deutsches big bet that it can ride
out the storm will pay of. They
Deutsches gamble
Last month, Anshu Jain received
an urgent phone call. Deutsche
Banks co-chief executive was
told that Sheikh Hamad bin Jas-
sim, Qatars former prime minis-
ter, wanted to invest in the bank
as it embarked on a plan to boost
its capital cushion.
Less than four weeks later, the
sheikh, widely known as HBJ, has
become the anchor investor in
a plan to raise 8 billion aimed
at solving, decisively, Deutsches
notorious and longstanding capi-
tal weakness.
The sheikhs move amounts to
a signicant endorsement of Mr.
Jains strategy to position Ger-
manys largest lender as Europes
last viable competitor to the big
Wall Street banks. Deutsche sees
itself as the last man standing
after a post-crisis shake-out
among Europes other global,
full-service investment banks.
The capital raising comes
barely two weeks after Barclays,
Deutsches European archrival,
became the latest bank to con-
cede defeat and slash its fixed-
income trading business. The
timing was not coincidental. It
would still have happened but not
now. We want to seize the oppor-
tunity to take market share, says
one person close to the decision
making process.
US rivals, including Gold-
man Sachs and JPMorgan, have
say numerous challenges, includ-
ing a host of outstanding lawsuits,
a high level of debt and an un-
certain regulatory environment,
could force Deutsche to abandon
its plan to be the only truly uni-
versal bank based in Europe, as
Mr. Jain put it this week.
Their head has gone into the
sand very rmly in the hope that
xed income will make a come-
back, says Chris Wheeler, an
analyst at Mediobanca.
So why is Deutsche clinging on
when Barclays and other Euro-
pean banks have chosen to dis-
mantle parts of their operations?
Deutsches and Barclays di-
vergence follows 20 years during
which their strategies mirrored
each other. US investment bank-
ers were instrumental in building
up the main prot engines in both
of their investment banks: selling
and trading xed- income prod-
ucts, currencies and commodi-
ties, or FICC in banker jargon.
This helped the two banks be-
come the largest European chal-
lengers to the US fixed-income
powerhouses, riding a boom in
debt products that was inter-
rupted only briey by the crisis
that started in 2008.
But last year the good times
came to an end. When the US
Federal Reserve started tapering
its quantitative easing program,
it unleashed a steep fall in trading
revenues amid uncertainty over
interest rates.
The change followed a rash of
structural changes in bond trad-
ing. Regulation is forcing deriva-
tives out of highly protable but
opaque over the counter trades,
and into lower-margin exchange
and centrally cleared trading.
And investors are buying fewer
exotic, but for the banks highly
profitable, fixed-income prod-
ucts.
Two years ago, management
shake-ups at Barcl ays and
Deutsche proved decisive in
shaping todays response to these
strategic challenges. At Barclays,
Antony Jenkins, a retail banker
with little knowledge of complex
trading operations, took over. In
contrast, Mr. Jains background
and those of many of his lieuten-
ants are solidly rooted in sales
and trading.
Bankers in London point out
that Deutsche also operates in a
more benign political and regula-
tory environment. In Germany,
the governments strength has
allowed the lender to prot from
low funding costs. Its local regu-
lator, criticized by some as tooth-
less, has allowed it to continue
operating with higher leverage.
The banks executives say their
decision has been partly driven
by market demand. Corporate
clients have expressed concern
that Deutsche would follow Bar-
clays, leaving them at the mercy
of US banks, they say.
Beijing revives regional
clubs to counterbalance
Washingtons Asia pivot
By Jamil Anderlini
Until a few days ago, most west-
ern diplomats in Beijing had
never heard of a regional security
conference established by Ka-
zakhstan in the 1990s and known
by the snappy acronym CICA.
But as President Vladimir Pu-
tin of Russia, President Hassan
Rouhani of Iran and a dozen oth-
er heads of state or government
arrived in Shanghai on Monday,
many of these diplomats were
scrambling to learn more about
the Conference on Interaction
and Confidence-building mea-
sures in Asia.
The ceremony surrounding
this summit provides the latest
example of Chinas eforts to re-
vive moribund multilateral bod-
ies or to establish new ones that
exclude the US.
The event highlights Beijings
frustration at the glacial pace of
reform in existing, western-dom-
inated multilateral institutions
such as the World Bank.
As a permanent member of the
UN Security Council, China is
supportive of existing interna-
tional organizations but China is
neither the founder nor the leader
of any of these, said Shi Yinhong,
director of the American studies
center at Peoples University in
Beijing. Now China would like
to nd international institutions
where it can play a more critical
role and where it can focus more
on its own rights, interests and
expectations.
Beijings search for multilateral
organizations where it can play
an assertive and inuential role
is part of a more active foreign
policy under the administration
of President Xi Jinping, which
took power last year. China will
broaden its horizons and be
much more active in making
the international order more just
and equal, said Wang Yi, the for-
eign minister, in March.
Some of the alternatives to the
US-dominated global order that
China has championed include
the BRICS emerging markets
bloc of Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa; a 16+1
grouping of China with 16 central
and eastern European countries;
and the 21-member Asia-Pacic
Economic Cooperation forum,
which China chairs.
The US has not paid much at-
tention to APEC in recent years
and China sees an opportunity;
it has placed a huge emphasis
on the importance of APEC this
year, said one western diplomat.
At an APEC meeting of trade min-
isters over the weekend, China
aggressively pushed the idea of
a new free trade zone in the re-
gion, despite objections from the
US, Japan and others engaged in
competing trade negotiations.
Counterbalance, S3/2
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Is xed income going away? No, its not, Mr. Jain said
this week.
Deutsche has already undertaken the type of restructur-
ing that Barclays has only just announced. The lender
shufed 135 billion of legacy assets, such as long-dated de-
rivatives that are no longer seen as protable because more
capital has to be held against them, into a non-core unit.
But critics say Deutsches dependence on its struggling
investment bank leaves it in a strategic bind. The unit ac-
counted for 51% of pre-tax prots last year and its return
dropped by 22% in the rst quarter. Fixed income is more
ingrained at Deutsche than at most other European banks.
Even in a weak year such as 2013, about 29% of core prots
was driven by FICC trading, according to estimates by
Autonomous research.
Analysts say Mr. Jains long delay in raising capital has
already cost the bank market share. Until recently, he tried
to use the banks capital weakness as a means of main-
taining pressure to reduce costs. Fixated on not diluting
shareholders, his strategy was to shrink the balance sheet
aggressively, which meant revenues dropped faster than
those of its US peers. The bank lost 0.7% in global market
share last year in the process, according to Morgan Stanley.
Unlike their rivals at UBS and Barclays, Mr. Jain and Jr-
gen Fitschen, his co-chief executive, lack reliable alterna-
tive prot engines when other businesses are soft. Despite
boosting protability in retail banking with the acquisition
of Postbank four years ago, returns in Germanys highly
fragmented retail market do not match those of its interna-
tional rivals. And while the asset and wealth management
business has improved prots, its 13% return on equity still
looks pallid compared with UBS and Credit Suisse.
Deutsche executives say its xed-income business ben-
ets from a close alignment with the global transaction
banking unit, a rare prot center where the bank provides
services such as cash payments to clients.
So far, investors are mostly behind the banks broad stra-
tegic direction. The commitment to investment banking
is in principle the right strategy, says Ingo Speich, a fund
manager at Union Investment, a Deutsche Bank investor.
Yet there is still skepticism over whether the manage-
ment duo will be able to deliver on their promises, particu-
larly a pledge to realize a return above the cost of capital.
With a return on equity that stood at 1.2% last year, the
target of 12% by 2015 looks out of reach.
Some investors say that Deutsches focus on riskier
investment banking demands an even more unrealistically
high return compared with other large European banks.
But one top 10 investor says that while he thinks the 12%
goal is unrealistic, he would be more than happy with a
10% return. Many analysts say the targets are impossible
to achieve for a bank that still has to deal with a number
of risks, ranging from potential nes for alleged rigging of
interbank lending and foreign exchange benchmarks to
European regulators scrutiny of bank balance sheets and
stricter capital rules for foreign banks in the US.
Their skepticism was vindicated this week. After
Deutsches hastily arranged analysts call on its rights is-
sue, some complained about a lack of clarity on what comes
next. Stefan Krause, the banks chief financial officer,
repeatedly said that it was too difcult to say exactly what
the impact of a host of regulatory issues would be.
Litigation, such as the nes for its role in the Libor scan-
dal, is another concern. Mr. Krause admitted that the legal
bill was likely to be as high as last years 3-billion payout.
Deutsches executives are also at pains to point out that the
market is still against them, after a 16% drop in FICC rev-
enues in the rst quarter from the same time last year. We
have no illusions, Mr. Jain said. I think the next several
quarters ... are not going to be easy.
Blaming this triumvirate of external forces regulation,
litigation and market moves will pacify investors for only
so long. Deutsche Bank now needs to prove that it has a
viable business plan to survive in the longer term, one
shareholder warns. What youre asking shareholders for
is to give us more money to support a business that has not
proven yet it can adapt to a new regulatory environment,
says one.
Some analysts estimate that regulation and litigation
alone this year will shave 200 basis points of the 11.8% core
tier one ratio the bank is expected to reach after the rights
issue. If Deutsches capital strength does not endure, that
will undercut its attempts to appear strong compared with
Wall Street. It would also threaten its ability to compete
with its American rivals for market share.
Investors are unimpressed, too, by a vague promise to
bring the banks lackluster dividend payout in line with its
US rivals by aspiring to return surplus capital to share-
holders including in the form of competitive dividend
payout ratios in the long term, as the bank said this week.
Yet it is not only the banks board members who point out
that equity markets can be ckle and change much more
quickly than a chief executive can shift strategy. They will
just have to hunker down and say we are out of fashion right
now, but fashions come and go, one analyst says.
With the regulatory landscape shifting and uncertainty
over whether bond trading will pick up soon, the Deutsche
strategy is a gamble for Mr. Jain as well as his new anchor
investor.
Maybe Deutsche took the right choice and Barclays took
the wrong one if the fixed-income market consolidates.
Now we have a choice at least you have two different
wagers, the top 10 investor says.
Right now, if you remain committed to xed income,
everyone is going to hate you until that magic day when
suddenly you will be proven right, one analyst says.
But from a return-on-equity perspective it is hard
for them to tough it out. It is a high-risk strategy.
Surjit Bhalla, an Indian economist, has writ-
ten to me that Indias is the most momen-
tous election in world history. I disagree:
the elections of Abraham Lincoln and Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt were more signicant.
But the idea is not absurd. Indias population
is 1.27 billion. Soon it will overtake China as
the most populous country. If the election of
Narendra Modi were to transform India, it
would transform the world.
It is already possible to identify at least
three ways in which the election is remark-
able.
First, India has shown yet again the signal
virtue of democracy: the peaceful transfer
of legitimate power. That this is possible in
such a vast, diverse and poor country is an
inspiring political achievement.
Second, Indians have rejected the dynastic
politics of the Congress party, which, alas,
brought to a sad end the distinguished public
service of Manmohan Singh, a man I have
known and admired for four decades. The
most important Congress-led government
since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru was that
of Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s, under
whom Mr. Singh served as reforming nance
minister. If Mr. Modi succeeds, it will be
because he builds on that foundation. Con-
gress still has the best chance of being the
strong secular party India needs, but only if
it liberates itself from its dependence on the
Gandhi family.
Third, Mr. Modi truly is a self-made man.
Even though his party won just 31% of the
vote, he has gained an overwhelming major-
ity in the lower house. He has done so by
promising to spread the perceived successes
of Gujarat to the rest of the country. There
is debate in India over whether Gujarat is
the model it is alleged to be. Yet that is not
the main point. What matters more is that
Indians have chosen a man who promises to
improve their lives. He is not chosen for his
origins. That is testimony to Indias trans-
formation over the past quarter of a century.
The outgoing government is condemned
as a failure. Yet, as Shankar Acharya, former
chief economic adviser to the Indian govern-
ment in the 1990s, points out, economic
growth has averaged 7.5% a year, the fastest
in any decade in Indian history. This rapid
growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has
raised average income ... by nearly 75% in
real, ination-adjusted rupees. This sounds
good. But, he adds, it also hides the truth.
Growth slowed sharply over the past three
years because of the cumulation of bad
economic policies, while consumer price
ination has risen to between 9%-11% over
the past five years. At the same time, Mr.
Acharya says, the governments policies
became steadily worse. He points to exorbi-
tant spending on subsidies for oil, food and
fertilizers, wasteful entitlement programs,
exorbitant pay settlements and huge scal
deficits. Other failures include the refusal
to lift disincentives to employment, crony
capitalism, capricious regulation, retrospec-
tive taxation, excessive jumps in food pro-
curement prices and corruption.
Mr. Acharya argues that all this has con-
tributed to a daunting legacy: a failure to
create jobs for the 10 million young people
Gamble,
fromS3/ 1 Indias election
remakes our world
entering the job market each year; stagna-
tion in manufacturing; inadequate infra-
structure; huge overhangs of incomplete
projects; vulnerability of agriculture due
to water stress; badly run entitlement pro-
grams; the weakening of the countrys ex-
ternal nances; and further deterioration in
the quality of governance itself.
Mr. Acharya is a sober analyst of Indian
economic realities, who worked closely with
Mr. Singh in the 1990s. His damning assess-
ment is persuasive. Yet India can surely do
better. The latest estimates suggest that
GDP per head is just a tenth that of the US,
and half that of China. It must be possible
for this country to catch up even faster.
Mr. Modi has above all been elected to ac-
celerate development. But if one recalls the
failure of his Bharatiya Janata partys India
shining campaign of a decade ago, he must
do so in ways seen to benet the vast major-
ity of the population, not just its elites.
It is not clear whether Mr. Modi can rise to
such big challenges in this vast and complex
country. His motto less government and
more governance has caught the public
mood. Yet it is not clear what this will mean
in practice.
An analysis by JPMorgan suggests that in
fact there is a remarkable convergence of
broad economic thinking between the two
main parties. The diference, if so, might be
more in implementation, an area Mr. Modis
supporters also stress. This suggests that
the goods and services tax (a national value-
added tax) might be put into efect, invest-
ment projects might be accelerated, energy
prices might be liberalized, shares in public
enterprises might be sold albeit without
full privatization and scal consolidation
might be accelerated.
This would be to the good, but probably
not enough to bring about the needed accel-
eration of growth and jobs generation. Vital
further reforms would be in employment
regulation, education and infrastructure,
with a view to making India a base for labor-
intensive manufacturing. With Chinese
wages rising, this is a plausible ambition.
Improvement in the administration of law
is crucial. Agriculture needs big advances,
including a more modern supply chain. The
states need to be forced to compete with one
another for people, capital and technology.
This election might prove to be a big step
towards the economic modernization of
India that was relaunched in 1991. But this
round of reforms will also be far harder than
those were. It is not now just a matter of
pulling the state out of the way. It is more
about making the government an efective
and honest servant of the Indian people.
This challenge is possibly an order of mag-
nitude more daunting than those Mr. Modi
once overcame in Gujarat.
Mr. Modi remains an enigma. He is a man
of action, a nationalist and a member of the
Hindutva movement. It is hard to believe he
would match Mr. Singhs emollient reaction
to Pakistans promotion of terrorism. It is
impossible to know what he might mean
for Indias communal relations. Nobody
knows either how far he feels obliged to the
business people who funded his cam-
paign. But one thing is sure: India has
a new game. Pay attention.
By Martin Wolf
Counterbalance,
fromS3/ 1
Chinas proposal to push forward with the
ambitious Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pa-
cic met a chilly reception in the US, which
is focused on a 12-nation trade agreement
known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP), excluding China.
Many Chinese analysts see Chinas ef-
forts to establish alternative multilateral
groups as a logical and restrained response
to Washingtons economic and military
pivot to Asia, which Beijing has angrily
condemned as an attempt to contain the
countrys rise.
The US wants [to use the TPP] to tighten
its alliance with Japan and the EU and deal
with the challenge from emerging powers,
said Wang Yimei, director of the EU studies
center at Peoples University. They coop-
erate with Vietnam and Malaysia but not
China and other emerging powers. This is
the game between the new world order and
the traditional G7 order.
People familiar with the APEC disagree-
ments say the contest between the US and
China in that forum is shaping up as a battle
for who will get to decide future regional
trade rules.
China is also pushing an agreement known
as the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership of 16 countries in Asia, which
excludes the US. With its focus on regional
security, its near-total exclusion of the US
and its welcome for Russia and Iran, CICA
can only be seen as a challenge to continued
US dominance in Asia.
China has the chairmanship until 2016
and yesterday Bangladesh and Qatar signed
up as full members of CICA, which last con-
vened in Istanbul in 2010.
While India, South Korea and Israel are
full members, about half the 26 members
are authoritarian regimes. Chinas
arch-enemy Japan has been given
only observer status, as has the US.
Tel : +632 535 9901
Fax : +632 535 9940
Web site : www.bworldonline.com

The Financial Times Limited [2012]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modied in anyway. (The client) is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation.
Thursday, May 22, 2014 S3/3 World Business
DETROIT General Motors Co.
(GM) said on Tuesday it is recall-
ing another 2.6 million vehicles
globally, raising the number of
vehicles it has recalled so far this
year to almost 15.4 million.
The four recalls are the latest
announced by the largest US auto-
maker, the highest prole of which
is the recall of cars with defective
ignition switches linked to at least
13 deaths. GM has been criticized
by safety advocates and fined by
US safety regulators for not catch-
ing the faulty switch earlier.
GM also said on Tuesday that
it is doubling the charge it expects
to take in the second quarter to
about $400 million, mostly for
GM recalls another 2.6 million vehicles
For possible faulty seat belts, transmissions, air bags, re issues
recall-related repairs. In the rst
quarter, GM took a charge of $1.3
billion, mostly related to the igni-
tion switch recall.
The Detroit company said
Tuesdays actions raises the
number of US recalls this year
to 29. That includes the earlier
high-profile recall of 2.6 million
vehicles to replace defective igni-
tion switches. The total number
of recalled vehicles this year is
more than the previous ve years
combined.
The latest actions cover pos-
sible faulty seat belts, transmis-
sions, air bags and re issues, and
mostly afected vehicles sold in the
United States.
GM said there have been no
fatalities associated with the
latest recalls. The actions affect
the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet
Traverse, GMC Acadia and Sat-
urn Outlook full-size crossover
vehicles; older-generation Chevy
Malibu and Pontiac G6 midsized
sedans; and newer versions of the
Cadillac Escalade sport utility ve-
hicle (SUV) and heavy-duty Chevy
Silverado and GMC Sierra full-
size pickup trucks.
Last week, GM announced
ve recalls covering almost three
million vehicles globally and said
it would take a second-quarter
charge of about $200 million. It
also was ned by the US National
Highway Trafc Safety Adminis-
tration a record $35 million for its
delayed response to the defective
ignition switch.
GM is also under investigation
by the US Department of Justice,
Congress, the US Securities and
Exchange Commission and sev-
eral states for its handling of the
faulty ignition switch, which en-
gineers first discovered in 2001.
GM has been criticized for failing
to detect the faulty part and for
not recalling the vehicles before
this year.
The automaker expects to
complete an internal probe of its
handling of the issue within the
next two weeks.
The largest of the four new re-
calls announced on Tuesday cov-
ers more than 1.5 million full-size
crossovers from model years 2009
through 2014 to replace potential
defective seat belts. GM has told
dealers to stop selling the newer
models until they are repaired.
The other large recall covers al-
most 1.1 million older-generation
midsized sedans with four-speed
automatic transmissions where a
shift cable could wear out. The total
number of vehicles afected by this
recall outside the US market was not
yet available. This is an expansion of
a previous Saturn Aura recall.
GM also put a stop-sale order
on the 2015 Cadillac Escalade
and Escalade ESV full-size SUVs,
recalling about 1,500 vehicles be-
cause the passenger side air bags
may not deploy properly in an ac-
cident. The company said it has
e-mailed the 224 customers who
had taken delivery of the vehicles,
telling them not to let passengers
sit in the front passenger seat until
the repair has been made.
The company also recalled 58
heavy-duty versions of its 2015
full-size Chevy and GMC pickup
trucks in the United States for po-
tential re issues.
GM shares were down 3.1% at
$33.20 on Tuesday afternoon on
the New York Stock Exchange.
Reuters
LONDON Some leading Astra-
Zeneca Plc. shareholders were at
odds over whether the British drug
maker made the right decision in
rejecting Pfzer, Inc.s fnal $118-bil-
lion bid to buy the company.
Schroder Investment Manage-
ment Ltd., AstraZenecas 12
th

biggest shareholder, urged the drug
maker on Tuesday to restart take-
over talks with Pfzer while Fidelity
Worldwide Investment (UK) Ltd.,
holder of the 18
th
largest stake in
Astra, backed the British companys
stance.
The division highlighted a split
among investors following the
collapse of a potential transac-
tion, leaving many shareholders
frustrated at missing out on a big
windfall.
Schroders said it was disap-
pointed with the quick rejection
by the AstraZeneca board of an
improved 55-a-share offer and the
decision by Pfzer to draw a pre-
mature end to these negotiations
by calling their latest proposal
fnal.
Given the increase in the offer
we would encourage the AstraZen-
eca management to recommence
their engagement with Pfzer, and
subsequently their shareholders,
the fund manager, which owns 2%
of AstraZeneca, said.
Schroders comments echoed
those of other shareholders, includ-
ing Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.,
which were dismayed at AstraZen-
ecas rejection of Pfzers offer on
Monday.
Astra said that under UK take-
over rules, there could be no fur-
ther talks with Pfzer and that the
US drug maker could not privately
or publicly even suggest it was
willing to raise its fnal rejected
bid prior to a May 26 deadline
unless a third party made a higher
offer.
This restriction that prevents
further negotiation on value is a
consequence of Pfzers actions,
AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johans-
son said in a statement.
Pfzer declined to comment on
the AstraZeneca statement. The
largest US drug maker had previ-
ously said it was now up to Astra
shareholders to urge the board to
reconsider Pfzers fnal offer.
The deal would have created
the worlds biggest drugs group.
Instead, AstraZenecas rejection
triggered the biggest intraday slump
in its shares since the creation of
the company through a merger of
British and Swedish businesses in
1999.
The anger, however, was not
universal.
I think Astra did the right
thing. I dont think that Pfzer was
a suitable partner, said Dominic
Rossi, London-based Fidelitys
global chief investment offcer
for equities, arguing the deal was
motivated by Pfzers desire to cut
taxes.
The Astra board has taken a
very diffcult decision. They under-
stood in rejecting the offer they
would be criticized by some share-
holders. We will now have to wait
two to three years to see whether
they were right. With a little luck
they could well be. Fidelity owns
1.2% of AstraZeneca, according to
Thomson Reuters data.
Anne Richards, chief investment
offcer at Aberdeen Asset Manage-
ment which holds 2.4% of the Brit-
ish drug maker, also said Pfzers
offer certainly wasnt a knock-out.
Veteran fund manager Neil
Woodford, who controls AstraZen-
eca shares in funds he runs for
wealth manager St. Jamess Place,
said he was relieved that Astra-
Zeneca appears to have retained
its independence.
Strict British takeover rules
mean the angry stalemate between
AstraZeneca and Pfzer is almost
certain to end with no deal, unless
AstraZenecas board did a U-turn
and recommended Pfzers fnal
offer.
AstraZeneca shares ended 0.5%
higher in London, while their shares
on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) rose 1.7% shortly before
the close of trading. Pfzer shares
were fat at $29.28, also on the
NYSE. Reuters
Investors split as AstraZeneca rejects Pzer
MONTERREY Mexican ce-
ment maker Cemex will seek to
regain its investment-grade rat-
ing, which was lost in 2009 after
a debt-fueled acquisition spree,
the companys new Chairman Ro-
gelio Zambrano Lozano said on
Tuesday.
Zambrano Lozano, who was
named to the job on Thursday
after the sudden death of former
chief executive ofcer (CEO) Lo-
renzo Zambrano last Monday, said
the companys vision and strategy
would remain much the same un-
der its new management.
The vision that Cemex has
at the moment comes from the
same strategy that we have been
following and that we dont in-
tend to change, he told a news
conference.
Our principal objective is
to regain our investment-grade
rating.
Fernando Gonzalez, newly ap-
pointed as CEO, said that the com-
pany will look at opportunities for
acquisitions as the cement indus-
try consolidates, but Cemexs pri-
ority will be to reduce leverage by
improving core prot and return
to nancial exibility.
Exploring opportunities is
something were obligated to do, he
said. But at the same time, we have
said that our number one priority is
to obtain nancial exibility.
Cemex has struggled with large
debts and cost-cutting since for-
mer CEO Zambranos ill-timed
$16-billion takeover of Australian
rival Rinker in 2007, when the
US housing market was already
months into a downturn.
Its credit rating was downgrad-
ed by Standard & Poors and Fitch
Ratings and now stands at B-plus,
which is four notches below in-
vestment grade. Reuters
Cemex says it will seek
to regain rating
of investment grade
TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp. has developed
a computer chip for its gas-electric hybrid cars
that could boost fuel efciency by 10% and al-
low the automaker to install the hybrid system
on more of its vehicles.
The maker of Prius hybrids and auto parts
maker Denso Corp. have jointly developed a
semiconductor using a silicon and carbon com-
pound that limits power loss and allows for a
smaller hybrid system, Toyota said on Tuesday.
A key way to improve fuel efciency is to
improve power semiconductor efficiency,
Kimimori Hamada, a Toyota engineer, told a
media brieng.
Toyotas push in semiconductors highlights
how car makers competitiveness is increasing-
ly tied to electronics rather than to traditional
mechanical engineering.
It also reveals the scope for further im-
provements in gas-electric hybrid technology
nearly two decades after Toyota led the market
with the launch of the Prius in 1997.
The new chips silicon carbide compound
is already used in computer chips in trains
and air conditioners, but this is its rst use in
automobile power chips, Toyota said.
The battery of a hybrid vehicle captures
energy from braking that can aid the combus-
tion engine and improve mileage. The Power
Control Unit (PCU) supplies electrical power
from the battery to the motor when the car
is running and charges the battery when the
vehicle is braking.
Inside the PCU are power semiconductors,
currently made from silicon, that control the
ow and the direction of electric current.
The silicon carbide chip reduces the amount
of current lost as heat and switches the current
ow on and of more efciently, although costs
are an issue. The silicon carbide chip costs at
least 10 times more than silicon, Mr. Hamada
said.
About 20% of electrical power loss in hybrid
vehicles is currently associated with power
semiconductors, he said.
The new chips will allow Toyota to cut the
volume of the PCU to one-fth the current size
and reduce the weight to about four kilograms
from 18 kilograms, Keiji Toda, a Toyota engi-
neer, said.
The size and weight reductions would save
fuel and potentially widen the range of cars
that could be tted with a hybrid system, Mr.
Toda said.
Toyota, which has achieved 5% gains in fuel
efciency on prototype vehicles, plans to start
installing the chips in its cars around 2020,
Mr. Hamada said, although it does not expect
to immediately achieve the targeted 10% fuel
savings. Reuters
Toyota develops chips for hybrid
cars to boost fuel effciency
TOKYO The Childrens Investment Fund
(TCI) has urged Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe to fully and swiftly privatize Japan
Tobacco, Inc. (JT) by shedding the govern-
ments one-third stake.
The British-based activist funds renewed
call for boosting shareholder returns comes as
Mr. Abe prepares to outline plans next month
to improve corporate governance, as part of an
updated economic strategy aimed at overturn-
ing Japans reputation for neglecting share-
holders.
In a letter to Mr. Abe dated May 20, TCI
noted that privatization would bring over
2 trillion ($19.7 billion) in revenues for the
government. Last year, Japan sold about a
17% stake, raising nearly 1 trillion to fund
reconstruction of areas devastated by the 2011
earthquake and tsunami.
We now strongly recommend that the gov-
ernment immediately fully privatize JT, as it
is not of strategic importance for the country,
it said.
TCI, which holds slightly more than 1% of
JT, according to Thomson Reuters data, also
urged Mr. Abe to vote in favor of its proposal for
the company to buy back 10% of its outstanding
shares. JT will hold its annual shareholders
meeting next month.
Shares in JT were roughly at on Wednes-
day morning, mirroring the broader Tokyo
market. Reuters
TCI urges Abe to fully
privatize Japan Tobacco
Thursday, May 22, 2014 4/S3 World Markets
US COMMODITY FUTURES
Source: Reuters
MAY 20, 2014
PLATINUM
(JULY CONTRACT)
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 1,470.10 CLOSE: 1,468.90
HIGH: 1,479.50 NET: -1.30
LOW: 1,466.50 PREV: 1,470.20
30 days to MAY 20,2014
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 1,293.00 CLOSE: 1,294.60
HIGH: 1,297.20 NET: 0.80
LOW: 1,286.00 PREV: 1,293.80
30 days to MAY 20,2014
GOLD
(JUNE CONTRACT)
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 19.28 CLOSE: 19.37
HIGH: 19.42 NET: 0.05
LOW: 19.27 PREV: 19.32
30 days to MAY 20,2014
SILVER
(MAY CONTRACT)
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 3.17 CLOSE: 3.15
HIGH: 3.18 NET: -0.02
LOW: 3.13 PREV: 3.17
30 days to MAY 20,2014
COPPER
(JUNE CONTRACT)
US cents per pound
OPEN 183.90 CLOSE: 185.70
HIGH: 186.40 NET: 2.20
LOW: 180.05 PREV: 183.50
30 days to MAY 20,2014
COFFEE
(MAY CONTRACT)
US cents per pound
OPEN: 17.75 CLOSE: 17.58
HIGH: 17.87 NET: -0.19
LOW: 17.53 PREV: 17.77
30 days to MAY 20,2014
SUGAR
(JULY CONTRACT)
US cents per pound
OPEN: 2,930.00 CLOSE: 2,968.00
HIGH: 2,974.00 NET: 38.00
LOW: 2,922.00 PREV: 2,930.00
30 days to MAY 20,2014
COCOA
(JULY CONTRACT)
Dollars per bushel
OPEN: 674.00 CLOSE: 670.50
HIGH 686.00 NET: -4.00
LOW: 666.00 PREV: 674.50
30 days to MAY 20,2014
WHEAT
(JULY CONTRACT)
NEW YORK US stocks fell in a
broad sell-of on Tuesday, with
major indexes hitting session lows
in afternoon trading, led by losses
in the retail sector after disap-
pointing results from Staples and
TJX Companies.
All 10 primary S&P 500 sec-
tor indexes fell, and nearly three-
fourths of Nasdaq-listed names
were down for the day.
The S&P 500s top ve declin-
ers were all retail stocks, includ-
ing TJX Cos., Inc., down 7.6% at
$53.95, after the owner of off-
price chain stores TJ Maxx and
Marshalls reported lower-than-
expected quarterly revenue.
Staples, Inc. tumbled 12.6%
to $11.71 after the office supply
retailer posted rst-quarter earn-
ings and forecast a decline in sales
in the current quarter. The S&P
retail index fell 1%.
Other decliners were Urban
Outfitters, down 8.8% at $32.98;
Best Buy, of 5.6% at $24.66, and
PetSmart, down 4.7% at $62.19.
But Home Depot shares rose,
up 1.9% at $77.96, after the com-
panys chief nancial ofcer said
sales in May were robust, taking
the sting out of its disappointing
rst-quarter results due to the se-
vere winter.
Dicks Sporting Goods esti-
mated current-quarter earnings
way below analysts average es-
timate and cut its full-year 2014
Retail stocks lead Wall St. sell-off
S&P 500 hit record closing highs
on May 13 as investors look for
signs conrming an acceleration
in the US economy that many had
hoped to see at this point in the
year.
For the fourth straight ses-
sion, the number of Nasdaq-listed
companies hitting 52-week lows
55 exceeded the number hit-
ting 52-week highs 38. More
than two-thirds of stocks traded
on the New York Stock Exchange
declined.
Today was a good reason to sell
ahead of the Fed minutes tomor-
row and also heading into the long
weekend. Traders are already ad-
justing their positions, said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist
at Rockwell Global Capital in New
York.
About 5.7 billion shares traded
on all US platforms, according to
BATS exchange data, below the
month-to-date average of 5.97 bil-
lion.
SMALL-CAPS HIT
Small-cap stocks fell after gaining
for the past two sessions, with the
Russell 2000 of 1.5%, far outpac-
ing the S&P 500s 0.7% decline.
The S&P small-cap index fell
1.4%, with fewer than 30 of the
indexs 600 components higher
for the day. To compare, the S&P
100 index of large-cap stocks fell
just 0.6%.
Investors are concerned about
the divergence between small-
and large-cap performance, wor-
rying that the weakness in small
names could spread throughout
the market.
The Russell has neared cor-
rection territory several times
recently, defined as a drop of
10% from a recent closing high.
The index is 9.3% below that
high, which was reached on
March 4.
CAT CLAWS THE DOW
Caterpillar shares dropped 3.6%
to $101.56, ranking as the heaviest
weight on the Dow after the heavy
machinery company said retail
statistics for the three-month
rolling period ending in April were
down 13%.
General Motors shares lost
3.4% to end at $33.07 after the No.
1 US automaker said it is recalling
another 2.42 million vehicles in
the United States and doubling
the charge it expects to take in
the second quarter to about $400
million.
In contrast, Aeroflex Hold-
ing Corp. shares jumped 25.4%
to $10.42. British aerospace and
defense supplier Cobham is
buying the United States com-
munications equipment maker
for $1.46 billion, including the
assumption of Aeroflexs debt.
Reuters
adjusted earnings and same-store
sales growth forecasts due to weak
demand for its golf and hunting
products. Its stock plunged 18% to
close at $43.60.
The Dow Jones industrial av-
erage fell 137.55 points or 0.83%,
to end at 16,374.31. The S&P 500
dropped 12.25 points or 0.65%,
to nish at 1,872.83. The Nasdaq
Composite slid 28.92 points or
0.70%, to close at 4,096.89.
Equities have pulled back more
than 1% since the Dow and the
NEW YORK Brent rose mod-
estly on Tuesday supported by
instability in Libya, pulling US oil
for July delivery higher in spite of
expectations for an increase in do-
mestic stockpiles.
The El Feel and El Shahara oil-
elds in western Libya were still
shut more than a week after the
government said protests there
were over, an ofcial said, and out-
put was flat at 210,000 barrels a
day.
Brent crude rises on Libya, pulls US oil up despite stocks
Violence among rival militias
and an attack on parliament on
Sunday by armed men claiming
loyalty to retired Major General
Khalifa Haftar led French oil ma-
jor Total SA to cut its presence in
Tripoli and Algerian state energy
company Sonatrach began evacu-
ating workers.
The movement by Haftar may
signal an attempt to draw up a
broader anti-Islamist front that
risks a wider battle in the North
African state, which is trying to
boost oil exports crucial to the
economy.
US commercial crude stock-
piles likely surged to their highest
in more than 20 years, a Reuters
poll found.
Brent crude settled 32 cents
higher at $109.69 a barrel. US
crude for June delivery, which
expired Tuesday, settled 17 cents
lower at $102.44, after hitting its
highest price in nearly one month
on Monday. US crude for July
delivery settled 22 cents up at
$102.33 a barrel.
I think we are worried about
Libya, but it seems that the
market wasnt ever convinced
it would be a reliable supplier
and thats why youre not seeing
any major follow-through moves
higher after the initial spike up on
Monday, said Phil Flynn, analyst
at Price Futures Group in Chi-
cago.
RECORD-HIGH US STOCKS
A Reuters poll found US commer-
cial crude stocks were expected
to be up by 800,000 barrels in the
week to May 16, while gasoline
stocks likely rose 100,000 barrels
and renery runs were up 0.6%.
US crude stocks rose in the
week to May 9, with inventories
rising 947,000 barrels as produc-
tion hit a 28-year high of 8.43 mil-
lion barrels per day, according to
data from the EIA. Reuters
NEW YORK/LONDON Platinum
group metals rose on Tuesday as South
Africas longest and costliest miners
strike ground on, while gold edged up as
gains in the dollar held it near key chart
support.
Platinum gained in intraday trade
after rener Johnson Matthey said it be-
lieved the decit in the platinum market
will expand to 1.218 million ounces this
year, its largest shortfall in a data series
going back to 1975.
Spot platinum was up 0.1% at $1,464.75
an ounce by 3:51 p.m. EDT (1951 GMT).
Earlier, it hit a high of $1,476.30, not far
from last weeks peak of $1,483.50, its
strongest since early March. US NY-
MEX platinum contract for July delivery
settled down $1.30 at $1,468.90 an ounce,
underperforming spot.
Despite recent strength, platinum is
struggling to break higher on the back
of the miners strike in top platinum
producer South Africa, source of around
three-quarters of world supply, as the
availability of above-ground stocks
curbs gains.
The four-month action against Anglo
American Platinum, Impala Platinum
and Lonmin, has disrupted 40% of plati-
num output and could cost one million
ounces of production this year.
The strikes turned violent this
month, with four miners killed as more
employees tried to report for work, ig-
noring calls by the union to continue
protesting.
Palladium rose 1.2% to $821.90 an
ounce. Palladium holdings of exchange-
traded funds hit record highs after an
8,000-ounce inow into Standard Banks
AfricaPalladium fund on Monday.
Gold, meanwhile, remained near
$1,290 an ounce as the dollar index rose
0.1% and an industry report showed
demand in major consumers China and
India fell in the rst quarter.
Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,294.29
an ounce, while US gold futures for June
delivery settled up 80 cents at $1,294.60
per ounce. Reuters
Platinum rms
on strike action;
gold holds
near $1,290
COCONUT
MANILA COPRA(based on 6% moisture)
Peso/100kg Buyer Seller

Lag/Qzn/Luc 3980/4020
Coconut Oil - Crude 64.50/65.50
COCONUT OIL (PHIL/IDN),$ per ton,
CIF Rotterdam
May14/Jun14 1410.00
Jun14/Jul14 1390.00
Jul14/Aug14 1390.00
COCONUT OIL (US)-cents/lb
Crude CIF, NY Nola Mar/Apr 62.75
Crude FOB rail Nola Mar 64.00
SPOT PRICES
METAL
COPPER Journal, spot, US cts/lb
COPPER Merchant,US cts/lb 322.10
COPPER No.2 Refned, US cts/lb 355.35
COPPER Bare Bright,del US cts/lb 389.85
LEAD battery scrap, del US cts/lb 42.50
LEAD Premium, del US cts/lb 13.50
LEAD Asarco Premium, del US cts/lb
ALUMINUM Premium, del US cts/lb 18.75
ALUMINUM Alloy, spot, US cts/lb 87.00
ALU Mixed Clips, del US cts/lb 61.00
ALU Turnings, del US cts/lb 49.00
TIN Premium/Grade A, US cts/lb 34.03
TIN Premium/Low Lead, US cts/lb 41.90
PALLADIUM free $/troy oz 825.10
PALLADIUM JMI base, $/troy oz 833.00
PLATINUM free $/troy oz 1468.60
PLATINUM JMI base $/troy oz 1474.00
KRUGGERAND, fob $/troy oz 1256.51
NICKEL Premium, del US cts/lb 22.50
ZINC Premium, del US cts/lb 7.00
IRIDIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 570.00
RHODIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 980.00
FOOD
COCOA ICCO Dly (SDR/mt) 1950.73
COCOA ICCO $/mt 3016.78
COFFEE ICA comp 79 cts/lb 160.64
COFFEE mild arabica NY cts/lb 209.25
COFFEE mild arabica Bmen/Hburg 211.01
COFFEE robusta NY cts/lb 106.83
COFFEE robusta Le Havre/Marseilles 100.26
SUGAR ISA FOB Daily Price, Carib. port cts/lb 18.53
SUGAR ISA 15-day ave. 18.23
GRAINS
(FOB Bangkok basis at every Thursday)
FRAGRANT (100%) 1st Class, $/ton 1022
FRAGRANT (100%) 2nd Class, $/ton 942
RICE (5%) White Thai- $/ton 389
RICE (10%) White Thai- $/ton 382
RICE (15%) White Thai- $/ton 370
RICE (25%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 346
RICE (35%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 0
BROKER RICE A-1 Super $/ton 298
RUBBER
Standard Msian Rub. 5 (FOB)Mal cts/kilo 0.00
Standard Msian Rub. 20 (FOB)Mal cts/kilo 0.00
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014
LIFFE COFFEE
New Robusta 10 MT - $/ton
High Low Sett Psett
May 2049 2032 2041 2042
Jul 2048 2023 2036 2037
Sep 2062 2036 2049 2051
Nov 2073 2049 2060 2064
LIFFE COCOA(Ldn)-10 MT-/ton
High Low Sett Psett
Jul 1859 1834 1857 1839
Sep 1857 1836 1856 1840
Dec 1857 1837 1854 1843
Mar 1853 1835 1851 1840
LONDON METAL EXCHANGE
LME FINAL CLOSING PRICES, US$/MT
CASH 3 MOS
ALUM. H.G. 1722.00 1770
ALUM. Alloy 1900.00 1960
COPPER 6922.50 6885
LEAD 2114.00 2133.5
NICKEL 19680.00 19855
TIN 23350.00 23070
ZINC 2083.00 2080
FTSE NASDAQ COMPOSITE DOW JONES
DJ EURO STOXX 225-NIKKEI
30 days to MAY 21 2014
KOSPI
OPEN: 2,003.48 CLOSE: 2,008.33
HIGH: 2,015.63 NET: -2.93
LOW: 2,001.74 PREV: 2,011.26
30 days to MAY 20 2014 30 days to MAY 21 2014
30 days to MAY 20 2014 30 days to MAY 20 2014 30 days to MAY 20 2014
OPEN: 16,511.22 CLOSE: 16,374.31
HIGH: 16,511.22 NET: -137.55
LOW: 16,341.30 PREV: 16,511.86
OPEN: 4,121.11 CLOSE: 4,096.89
HIGH: 4,124.86 NET: -28.92
LOW: 4,080.61 PREV: 4,125.82
OPEN: 13,969.71 CLOSE: 14,042.17
HIGH: 14,054.24 NET: -33.08
LOW: 13,964.43 PREV: 14,075.25
OPEN: 6,844.55 CLOSE: 6,802.00
HIGH: 6,848.36 NET: -42.55
LOW: 6,792.51 PREV: 6,844.55
OPEN: 3,166.87 CLOSE: 3,163.93
HIGH: 3,175.80 NET: -5.97
LOW: 3,155.63 PREV: 3,169.90