The gross revenue index of industries in the Philippines grew by 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 from 7.3 percent a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
PSA said that among the local industries, finance posted the fastest growth at 14.6 percent.
This was followed by transportation, storage and communication with 14.5 percent, trade with 14.4 percent, and real estate with 12.4 percent.
The agency also said the total employment index rose by 1.7 percent, up from 1.3 percent in the same quarter last year. Industries responsible for the growth were transportation, storage and communication (4.3 percent); trade (2.7 percent); manufacturing (2.5 percent); mining and quarrying (9.2 percent); construction (8.6 percent); and manufacturing (7.7 percent).
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Other industries which contributed to employment index growth were other services (4.7 percent); finance (2.4 percent); real estate (1.9 percent); transportation, storage and communication (1.8 percent); and trade (0.3 percent).
Employment index on construction fell by 0.3 percent, PSA added.
Moreover, PSA said the compensation index grew by 4.6 percent from 3.3 percent in the same quarter last year. “Electricity, gas and water supply recorded the fastest growth with 9.8 percent,” said PSA.
Industries behind the growth were construction, manufacturing, other services, finance, real estate, transportation, storage and communication, and trade.
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Meanwhile, the compensation per employee index also went up by 2.9 percent.
“The acceleration was attributed to the uptrend in construction with 8.9 percent, electricity, gas and water supply with 8.6 percent, mining and quarrying with 6.8 percent, manufacturing with 5.0 percent, other services with 3.8 percent, finance with 0.8 percent and real estate with 0.5 percent,” said PSA.
Capital stock. PLDT Inc. has authorized capital stock (ACS) of 771.5 million shares consisting of 234 million common shares with par value of P5 per common share, 150 million voting preferred shares with par value of P1 per preferred share, and 387.5 million non-voting serial preferred shares with par value of P10 per share.
Of the company’s 771.5-million ACS, PLDT has issued to 10,138 Filipino stockholders 108,445,902 PLDT common shares, or 16.28 percent, of which 59,958,329 PLDT common shares were held by the public. Only three stockholders held 300,000,870 non-voting serial preferred shares, or 45.04 percent.
PLDT said in a general information sheet (GIS) that only one Filipino stockholder owned 150 million voting preferred shares. The public stockholders owned none of the company’s 150 million voting PLDT preferred shares, or 22.52 percent. Three Filipinos owned 300,000,870 PLDT non-voting serial preferred shares, or 45.04 percent, of which the public held 870 shares..
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In its 2019 GIS, 1,496 foreigners were limited to owning 107,609,873 PLDT common shares, or 16.16 percent. Of PLDT’s foreign ownership, the public held 55,992,526 common shares.
PCD Nominee Corp. held for beneficial owners 78,317,761 PLDT common shares, or 36.25 percent of 216,055,775 outstanding common shares. When computed, the same PCD-held common shares were then equivalent to 11.784 percent of 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares.
PLDT’s public ownership. The public stockholders of PLDT, according to the company’s public ownership report (POR) as of March 31, 2019, are the company’s majority stockholders. They held 100,062,806 PLDT common shares, which were then equivalent to 53.69 percent of 216,055,775 outstanding common shares.
In the same POR, PLDT said it had 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares. It reported 216,056,645 common shares and 150 million voting preferred shares for total voting stock of 366,056,645 shares.
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Of 216,055,775 outstanding PLDT common shares, foreigners owned 107,596,928 PLDT common shares, or 49.80 percent of 216,055,775 outstanding common shares. The company’s POR listed at 16.15 percent the percentage equivalent based on 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares.
PLDT’s computations may be subject to guesses, one of which would be that the company had, as of March 31, 2019, 450,000,870 other classes of preferred shares, which would be non-voting.
Being non-voting, 450,000,870 preferred shares would be equivalent to 67.562 percent of 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares.
Thus, of PLDT’s 666,056,645 outstanding capital stock, 366,055,775 shares were and still are voting shares divided into 216,055,775 common shares and 150 million preferred voting preferred shares.
A reader writes. The following letter from a reader of The Manila Times is self-explanatory. Faustino Abad is asking Due Diligencer about stock certificates. He should have addressed his inquiry to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Meanwhile, I hope SEC officials, led by Chairman Emilio Aquino, would read this piece for them to know the problems encountered by Abad and the rest of the investing public.
By reading Due Diligencer, Aquino would learn the pulse of the public who, in investing on certain listed stocks, meet certain difficulties that only SEC officials could possibly resolve.
Our readers, like Mr. Abad, would be enlightened to know that they have SEC officials who care about the plight of the public investors.
Dear Due Diligencer,
Every now and then I read your column in The Manila Times, particularly on issues related to the local stock market and SEC. I don’t know if you could help me with my predicament but nevertheless I got to ask.
My mother recently died (about two weeks ago) and while rummaging some of her old stuff, I found some stock certificates of common shares of Petron which she got back in the 1990’s from PNB (as underwriter?). I also found some IPO certificate of another stock (difficult to read) which she also got from PNB. Note that all those certificates have her name in them.
I’m not sure if they are still valid. How would I know if they are still valid?
In case that they are still valid, how do I cash them out? What are the steps to be taken?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you may provide.
Regards,
Jay-R
Due Diligencer’s take
Here is another way of computing PLDT’s voting stock: 216,055,775 outstanding common shares plus 150 million PLDT voting preferred shares equals 366,055,775 outstanding voting shares. The rest totaling 300,000,870, or 45.041 percent of PLDT’s 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares are non-voting shares, which means their holders or owners are not allowed to vote despite their ownership of them.
This could be why PLDT’s public stockholders are the company’s majority stockholders by attributing to them 53.69 percent of 216,055,775 outstanding common shares.
The question, though, is how PLDT arrived at 53.69 percent when the public stockholders are never recognized as contributors to the telephone company’s profitability. However, when computed on 666,056,645 outstanding common and preferred shares, PLDT’s 53.69-percent publicly owned common shares resulted in them owning the equivalent to 17.415 percent.
Based on these assumptions, PLDT remains compliant with the SEC’s 10-percent minimum public ownership rule.
By the way, are Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp., Metro Pacific Resources Inc., NTT Communications Corp., and NTT DoCoMo Inc. and a certain non-Philippine subsidiary of First Pacific Co. Ltd. Filipinos as they portray themselves to be in some filings? Just asking.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd on Thursday denied conflict of interest allegations arising from a lease deal, claiming he had not hidden the existence and was no longer involved in the day-to-day running of a family-owned firm from which Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was renting a building.
Atty. Gonzalo Duque, brother of Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ
As Health secretary, Duque serves as the ex-officio chairman of PhilHealth’s board, which President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this month told to resign over reports of continuing corruption and fraud at the state firm. Duque was also PhilHealth president before he became Health chief during the Arroyo administration.
“[T ingin ko, unang-una, walang conflict of interest kasi dinis-close ko naman sa aking SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) na itong kompanya na ito ay ang may-ari ay ang aking pamilya (I think, first and foremost, there was no conflict of interest because I disclosed in my SALN that this company is owned by my family),” Duque said in a radio interview on Thursday.
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He explained that when he left government service in 2015, he returned to Dagupan City and helmed the Lyceum Northwestern University, which as Education Medical Development Corp. (its corporate name) had long been tapped by PhilHealth for its main regional office in Pangasinan.
"So 2015-2016 ako ang namuno ng aming corporation at inabutan ko na ang PhilHealth bilang tenant nung korporasyon at ito ay nasa campus ng aming university (In 2015 and in 2016 I was the head of our corporation and PhilHealth was already a tenant inside the campus of our university),” he said.
Duque added that when Duterte offered the Health portfolio in 2016, he resigned from his posts of president, chief executive officer and member of the board, with his duties taken over by a sibling.
He claimed that PhilHealth had long wanted to move to a permanent location but the transfer never materialized, with the regional office again asking for a lease renewal in 2017.
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Duque also claimed that the transaction went through the proper procurement process and said he did not want to void the deal because it would have affected the jobs of 200 PhilHealth employees and disrupted the state firm’s regional operations.
PhilHealth confirmed it was renting a building from the Duque family firm and claimed the deal — set to expire at the end of 2019 — had undergone the “regular process.”
“Hanggang December 31 this year na lang ang contract with them (Our contract with them will only be until December 31),” PhilHealth deputy spokesman Rey Baleña said in a text message to The Manila Times.
‘Highly improbable’
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who claims that PhilHealth was paying P529,261.20 monthly to use the building, on Thursday accused Duque of intentionally refusing to act on the regional office’s request to transfer.
The Health’ chief’s assertions that he was no longer privy to the family firm’s transaction, the senator said, were “highly improbable.”
“Katunayan meron ding information nagsasabi ilang beses nang gumawa ng proposal ang Regional Office 1 kung saan naghahanap sila ng ibang location … At ito ay binabalewala ni Secretary Duque sa kanilang board meetings. Pinatanggal sa agenda (There is information that Regional Office 1 had repeatedly filed transfer proposals … these were ignored by Duque during their board meetings. He had these removed from the agenda),” Lacson claimed.
“At ang balita ko nga, kahapon after nang matalakay namin doon sa Kapihan sa Senado at na-expose ko dali-daling gumawa ng sulat ang PhilHealth na hindi na raw nila ire-renew … After the fact eh. Anong ibig sabihin noon? (The news I got was that after I made my exposé at the Kapihan sa Senado [media forum , PhilHealth reportedly rushed a letter stating it would no longer renew the lease contract … after the fact. What does that mean),” he added.
The senator said Duque, based on information obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission, had yet to divest P7 million worth of shares in Educational and Medical Development Corp.
Duque’s brother, Social Security System Commissioner Gonzalo Duque, who has submitted his resignation in March, said he welcomed an investigation of Lacson’s conflict of interest allegations.
He added that the family was not "hurt” as the senator was "just misguided,” and that he was ready to face "any court, any investigation, even people who would like to promote their ambitions … and see to it that nothing is wrong with all the transactions we have entered into.”
The family, he said, was considering not extending the lease with PhilHealth as it wanted to expand Lyceum Northwestern.
FROM REPORTS BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE, GLEE JALEA, BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO AND DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ
THE budget utilization of state agencies improved in the first five months of 2019, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed on Thursday.
Agencies used P1.050 trillion of the P1.136 trillion released under the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) in January to May.
This translates to a utilization ratio of 92 percent, compared with the 83 percent recorded in the same period in 2018.
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NCAs refer to disbursement authorities issued by the DBM to government servicing banks, such as Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Veterans Bank, to cover the cash requirements of agencies’ programs, activities and projects. NCAs are valid up to the last working day of the quarter covered.
“The higher NCA is tied to the delayed budget signing, as agencies play catch-up with expenditures programmed for the year that went unreleased. Most of this might constitute the MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses) and wages of government offices,” Security Bank Corp. Assistant Vice President and chief economist Robert Dan Roces told The Manila Times.
A dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives over alleged insertions resulted in a four-and-a-half-month delay before legislators finally agreed to approve the 2019 outlay.
Before the approval, the government was forced to operate on last year’s budget, unable to spend on projects and programs supposed to be implemented this year.
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“Moving forward, we expect utilization to improve to initiatives tied to the infrastructure programs for the second half of the year, as the
touted [infrastructure] spending program gets underway,” Roces said.
The country’s economic managers said last month they would embark on a bold “expenditure catch-up plan” to boost gross domestic product growth to above 6 percent and offset the negative impact of the 2019 budget’s delayed passage on economic growth.
This plan includes an infrastructure spending target of P792.97 billion for the second to fourth quarters after actual infrastructure spending reached P207.2 billion in the first.
To achieve these targets, the economic managers said the Public Works and Transportation departments had committed to spend a combined P803.1 billion in the next three quarters.
DBM data also showed that agencies that posted the highest utilization ratio of 100 percent were the Commission on Audit, using P4.655 billion out of P4.672-billion NCA, and the Commission on Elections, P7.382 billion out of P7.384 billion.
The Department of Foreign Affairs had the lowest budget utilization ratio of 59 percent, using only P3.711 billion of its P6.260-billion allocation.
In a statement, the Budget department also said line departments had an average NCA utilization rate of 90 percent, as they were able to use P784.49 billion of the P868.85-billion NCA releases for them.
On the other hand, NCA releases to the Bureau of Treasury for government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local governments amounting to P19.9 billion and P246.1 billion, respectively, “were virtually fully utilized, since these were downloaded to the
GOCCs and loca governments by directly crediting their accounts,” it added.
Unused NCAs amounted to P85.340 billion as of end-May, which is equivalent to just 8 percent of the total, according to the department.
“Unused NCAs may still be utilized in June 2019 as the cash authority issued by the DBM is valid until the end of the quarter,” it said.
THE country incurred savings of P4.4 trillion last year, based on current prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday.
In a report, the state-run statistics agency said the amount represented a 4.4-percent increase from the P4.2 trillion posted in 2017.
Among the four institution sectors, nonfinancial corporations had the highest share of the savings in 2018, with P2.55 trillion or 57.6 percent
of the total.
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Financial corporations came next with P1.26 trillion; general government, P503 billion; and households, including nonprofit institutions serving households (NPISH), P116.5 billion.
In terms of contribution to gross domestic product ( GDP), nonfinancial corporatons’ share remains the highest at 51.8 percent.
“This was followed by households including NPISH at 32.7 percent; financial corporations at 8.3 percent; and general government at 7.5 percent,” PSA said.
The data came from consolidated accounts, as well as income and outlay accounts compiled annually.
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“The consolidated accounts present a summary of transactions and relationships among the various flows of the economy at current prices.
Included in this report are production, consumption, income, gross accumulation, and economic transactions with the rest of the world,” the agency explained.
Income and outlay accounts, on the hand, are compiled for the four sectors previously mentioned.
JAPAN is yet to release the 900 billion yen in loans that it had pledged for the Philippines to fund the country’s railway projects, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
At a briefing in Makati City on Thursday, JICA Senior Representative Kiyo Kawabuchi said the aid agency had so far released only 400 billion yen out of the 1.3 trillion yen it had committed to give.
The Philippines, represented by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III (left) signs a loan agreement with the government of Japan, represented by Japan International Cooperation Agency Vice President Yasushi Tanaka (right), for a US$202.04 million or Y21.9 billion loan for the road network development project in conflict affected areas in Mindanao. (Carmela Jane F. Villar/PIA 3)
“So for the railway sector, we still have 900 billion yen to [release]….” she added.
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Kawabuchi’s statement comes after Manila and Tokyo signed a $202.04-million Japanese yen loan agreement for the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao in Clark, Pampanga province, on Tuesday.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and JICA Senior Vice President Yasushi Tanaka signed the deal on behalf of the Philippines and Japan, respectively.
JICA is supporting the government’s transport infrastructure developments, including the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway and North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) projects, as well as the first phase of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 Rehabilitation, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 Cavite Extension and LRT Line 2 East Extension projects.
These projects, Kawabuchi said in a statement, could boost areas outside Metro Manila, enticing more investments and generating jobs for Filipinos.
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“Once completed, these transport infrastructure projects will help realize the shared vision of JICA and the Philippines toward reduced traffic congestion, seamless mobility, and better quality of life of many Filipinos,” she was quoted as saying in the statement.
Amid the projection that the country is poised to become an upper middle-income economy by next year, Kawabuchi also told reporters that, while JICA will continue “to support the development of the railway system of the Philippines,” terms and conditions would be changed.
JICA currently offers the Philippines loans with 0.1-percent interest and a 40-year repayment period, but once the latter becomes an upper middle-income economy, this would be raised to 1.4-percent interest with a 25-year repayment period.
Existing railway projects would not be affected, Kawabuchi said.
Policymaking Monetary Board cuts 2019 inflation forecast to 2.7%
MONETARY authorities on Thursday decided to pause on reducing interest rates on the back of a “manageable inflation outlook” and “firm domestic growth prospects.”
BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo. Photo by BSP
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates remained at 4.50 percent, 5.00 percent and 4.00 percent, respectively, after the Monetary Board held its fourth policy meeting for 2019.
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During a briefing, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said “the Monetary Board believes that the manageable inflation outlook and firm domestic growth prospects support keeping monetary policy settings steady for the time being.”
“Latest baseline forecasts indicate that inflation remains likely to settle within the target range of 3.0 percent ± 1.0 percentage point for both 2019 and 2020, while inflation expectations have moderated further,” he added.
Risks to the inflation outlook were also observed to be “broadly balanced” for 2019 and 2020, according to the central bank governor.
He also said this outlook continued to be tempered by weaker global economic prospects amid a possible easing in global demand and increased trade tensions.
Meanwhile, the potential adverse effects of a prolonged El Niño remain a key upside risk to inflation.
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BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo also announced that monetary authorities had also cut its 2019 inflation forecast to 2.7 percent from 2.9 percent. The 2020 projection was also trimmed to 3.0 percent from 3.1 percent.
He pointed out that two major reasons for the reduced projection were the lower global oil prices and peso appreciation.
Guinigundo said there was a reduction in the BSP global oil prices assumption this year from $68.90/barrel to $64.56/ba, and for 2020 from $67.10/ba to $61.35/ba.
The peso, on the other hand, was expected to end 2019 at P52.51:$1 before further appreciating to P51.50:$1 in 2020.
“These are appreciated rates compared to the May’s assumption of P52.06:$1 for 2019 and P51.78:$1 for 2020,” Guinigundo said.
Furthermore, Diokno said the Monetary Board also noted that “overall domestic economic activity is likely to remain firm, supported by a projected recovery in household spending and the continued implementation of the government’s infrastructure spending program,” following the moderation of real sector activity in the first quarter.
That said, the Bangko Sentral chief stressed that “a prudent pause allows the BSP to observe and assess the impact of prior monetary adjustments including the phased reduction in the reserve requirements to be completed by the end of July.”
Early last month, monetary authorities reduced overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points following a series of rate hikes last year, as well as banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 200 bps, from 18 percent to 16 percent.
For his part, Guinigundo assured that there was still room for the central bank to ease its monetary policy because inflation was seen as “going to moderate.”
Going forward, Diokno said “the BSP will continue to monitor emerging price and output conditions to ensure that monetary policy remains in line with the BSP’s price stability objective while being supportive of economic growth.”
Responding to the board’s decision, Capital Economics’ Asia economist Alex Holmes believes that Bangko Sentral would resume its loosening
cycle later in the year, as inflation is set to fall back again in the coming months.
“As such, we are sticking with our forecast for further easing this year,” he said.
THE stock market rose for a fourth straight day on Friday as investors bought up at the last minute.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered from intra-day losses, growing by 0.41 percent or 33.05 points to close at 8,055.47. The wider All Shares increased by 0.75 percent or 36.43 points to end at 4,927.81.
In a market note, brokerage firm Philstocks Financial Inc. said market players went on a last-minute buying spree to lift the index back to the green after trading most of the day sideways.
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In a separate comment, P2P Trade Online sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez said the index was showing further strength after it hovered above the 8,000 level.
“This means that [it’s] still showing strength…as it inches closer to the resistance at its recent high of 8,139. As long as price action holds above the support of 7,830, bias should be to the upside and a break above the aforementioned,” he explained.
The local market traded in line with its US counterpart, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all rose by 0.94 percent, 0.95 percent, and 0.80 percent, respectively.
Regional markets were mixed, however, with Tokyo down 0.95 percent, Hong Kong and Seoul both slipped 0.27 percent, and Jakarta declined 0.68 percent,
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Meanwhile, Shanghai grew 0.50 percent, Singapore inched up by 0.08 percent, and Bangkok was up 0.16 percent.
In Manila, all sectoral results finished firmer, with the financials index up the most by 0.78 percent.
More than 752 million issues were traded valued at P9.36 billion.
Winners led losers, 109 to 86, while 49 issues remained unchanged.
THE Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) held in Makati City on Thursday the 21st Outstanding Filipino Retailers Awards, which saw Jollibee Foods Corp. Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong and fashion brand Penshoppe lead the honorees.
Philippine Retailers Association President Rosemarie Ong, Jollibee Foods Corp. Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Alegria Limjoco (third to fifth from left, respectively) pose with other officials during the Philippine Retailers Association’s 21st Outstanding Filipino Retailers Awards in Makati City on Thursday. The Manila Times was one of the event’s co-sponsors. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE
In an event co-sponsored by The Manila Times, the PRA recognized Caktiong as the “Pillar of Brand Globalization,” praising the Jollibee founder’s contribution in the food industry.
“Mr. Tan Caktiong was chosen as this year’s awardee for his great success and influential contribution to the Philippine food retail sector by creating a super brand [that] brought to the world the true Filipino taste and the culture of spreading joy through food,” PRA President Rosemarie Ong said during the ceremony.
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In his acceptance speech, Caktiong said the “success of Jollibee Foods Corp. continues to be driven by collective painstaking hard work and commitment by countless individuals united by vision, shared values and aspirations.”
The organization conferred on Penshoppe the Retail of the Year prize in recognition of its stellar performance in sales growth, stores operation, product marketing and promotional campaigns, omni-channel adoption and corporate social responsibility.
The brand also won the inaugural award for Outstanding Visual Merchandising Campaign for its “effective use of colors, texture, signage, props, product groupings and/or lighting to attract [the] attention of shoppers.”
Menswear and footwear outlet Commonwealth PH received the Promising Retailer of the Year prize for marking its presence in the industry despite being a new entrant.
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Megaworld Uptown Mall, along with SM Megamall and SM Center Las Piñas, were recognized as Shopping Centers of the Year, while Robinsons Supermarket was named Supermarket of the Year.
Regional Retailer of the Year honors were given to Metro Retail of Visayas.
The E-Commerce Excellence award was handed to apparel outlet CLN for its “overall efforts in its operations, digital marketing efforts, logistics and credibility.”
Clothing line Levi’s received the Outstanding Marketing Campaign prize.
This year’s Platinum Awards were handed to Toby’s Sports Founder Roberto S. Claudio and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President Alegria Limjoco for their significant contributions to the local retail sector.
“Their passion, leadership and longtime dedication to the PRA have led to the development of the local retail industry as a whole,” Ong said.
The PRA and the Department of Trade and Industry hosted the awards with the aim of pushing the local retail industry to be on a par with global practices.
LISTED Megaworld Corp. is allocating P300 billion in capital expenditures (capex) for the next five years to expand its portfolio.
At a news briefing in Quezon City on Friday, Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Tan said the capex would cover the Andrew Tan-led property titan’s expansion plans from 2020 to 2024.
Megaworld Chief Executive Officer Kevin Tan . PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
About 65 percent would be used to develop more residential, office, township and hotel projects, and 35 percent for land bank acquisitions.
Megaworld is looking to purchase 2,000 hectares of land next year, which will bring its total land ownership to 6,700 has.
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“Our existing land bank would be sufficient for the next 10 to 15 years of development,” Tan said.
According to him, the company plans to finance the capex through a combination of debt and internally generated cash.
For townships, Megaworld earlier announced its plans to have 30 townships in its portfolio by end-2020 from the current 24. A plan to develop more beyond 30 is being prepared.
The real-estate developer also aims to build at least four malls every year: one major mall measuring between 30,000 square meters and 50,000 sqm, and a maximum of three community malls with a floor area of between 10,000 sqm and 15,000 sqm.
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Megaworld would also implement more office and hotel projects in the next few years. For this year, it will open Belmont Hotel on Boracay island in Aklan province; Savoy Hotel in Mactan, Cebu; and Grand Westside in the company’s Westside City township in Parañaque City.
During the last five years, Megaworld had spent P285 billion for its five-year capex program, most of which was used for property and township developments. This included its P65-billion capex for 2019 alone.
“Megaworld has secured significant coverage of raw land in the areas where we want to be in. Our focus now is on developing the land in order to sustain and further propel our strong earnings moving forward,” Tan said.
Megaworld shares rose by 17 centavos or 2.88 percent to finish at P6.07 apiece on Friday.
MOODY’S Investors Service retained its stable outlook for Philippine banks, as it believes that the country’s robust economic growth would continue to support asset quality at current strong levels.
People line up at different automated teller machines inside a mall in Makati City. PHOTO BY JUSTINE RUTH BITANCOR
“Our outlook for the Philippine banking system over the next 12 [to] 18 months is stable,” the credit ratings agency announced in its “Banking System Outlook” report released on Thursday.
With a growth forecast of 6 percent for the country this year, Moody’s said the Philippines’ economic expansion rate “will remain among the highest in Asia, underpinned by robust domestic consumption and an expansionary fiscal policy, despite a budget delay and an export slowdown due to a weakening of global economic growth.”
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It added that private consumption, which contributed 68.5 percent of the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, would continue to be supported by the country’s young population and remittances from overseas Filipinos.
The debt watcher also expects government spending to rebound following the signing of the delayed 2019 national budget in mid-April.
A dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives over alleged insertions resulted in the four-and-a-half-month delay in the budget’s passage. This forced the government to run on last year’s budget, limiting it to spend for items detailed in the 2018 outlay and not on programs and projects supposed to be implemented this year.
This put total national government spending in January to March — which include expenditures for infrastructure and capital outlay, maintenance, personnel services and subsidies — at P778 billion, up 0.8 percent or P6 billion from the amount in the same period last year.
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That said, Moody’s added that “banks will be able to maintain strong asset quality despite increases in interest rates, because economic conditions are healthy and [the] financial performance of Philippine corporates, which account for the bulk of loans in the system, remains strong.”
It highlighted that the country’s corporates continue to have sufficient income buffers to fully absorb the impact of higher interest rates or a slowdown in revenue growth.
Moody’s recalled that listed companies’ interest coverage ratio has declined due to interest-rate increases, but it still remained high at more
than five times in 2018.
It noted, however, that a key risk for banks’ asset quality is that their loans are heavily concentrated on a small number of conglomerates.
“Further, the country’s largest business groups own and control some of the top domestic banks, so a default by a conglomerate can lead to failure of a major bank along with other businesses of the group,” Moody’s said.
While stressing that the likelihood of such an event is low, it warned that its impact on the banking system would be significant if it happened.
BANGKOK: Southeast Asian leaders are eager to sign a sweeping China-led trade pact by the end of this year, Thailand’s prime minister said on Friday, with further talks expected at a Bangkok summit on the world’s biggest commercial deal.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Bangkok on Friday. AFP PHOTO
Beijing is seeking to shape the rules of free trade across the Asia-Pacific, as America retreats from multilateral deals under US President Donald Trump.
The China-crafted Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes all 10 economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that are meeting this weekend in the Thai capital.
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But it also sweeps in China’s main regional rival India, as well Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, covering half the world’s population and around 40 percent of its trade.
Squabbles with India over access to its giant consumer market, as well as Australia and New Zealand over the lack of “high quality” labor and environmental standards, have undercut talks in recent months.
Analysts say these competing priorities mean signing the deal any time soon may be unlikely.
But Asean, hosted this year by Thailand, is determined to hustle the pact through as tit-for-tat tariffs between the US and China tariff darken the outlook for global free trade.
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“Thailand is trying to expedite the conclusion of the RCEP negotiations this year,” Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Thailand’s former junta leader who is now premier, told a business forum in Bangkok on Friday.
“This is the agreed intention of all leaders,” he said.
Seven of the 18 chapters within the deal have been concluded, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
“We have reached a point to really demand from different negotiating parties to be more realistic [and] pragmatic,” he said, adding that the US-China spat should prompt Asean to “fast-track” the RCEP deal.
Shortly after taking office, Trump pulled out off an American-led Asia-Pacific trade pact, called the TPP, preferring to leverage the power of the world’s largest economy bilaterally with Southeast Asian nations.
That opened the door for Beijing to champion free trade across the Asia-Pacific.
But the US is at pains to insist it has not abandoned the region and remains “very committed” to Southeast Asia, Peter Haymond, US Charge D’Affairs to Thailand said at the forum.
“We see this as a hugely dynamic region,” he said, adding that the Trump administration “has put more priority on updating and improving” existing trade agreements.
“But [it] is very committed to strengthening its partnerships throughout Asean and throughout the region.”
Bangko Sentral: Amount is biggest in more than two years
FOREIGN portfolio investments remained in the negative territory in May, recording the biggest net outflow in more than two years, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed on Friday.
The $749.84-million net “hot money” outflow was higher than April’s $298.83 million. It was also the largest since September 2016’s $807.15 million, and bigger than the year-earlier $206.35 million.
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In a statement, the central bank said “all investment instruments resulted in net outflows.”
Registered gross foreign portfolio investments amounted to $1.237 billion for the month, 2.06 percent higher than $1.212 billion a year ago. Inflows also rose by 25 percent from $989 million a month ago.
The Bangko Sentral said the month-on-month growth “may be attributed to investor reaction to lower inflation for April 2019 amid the holding of the country’s midterm elections and the BSP’s announcement to cut the reserve requirements ratio of universal and commercial banks.”
Headline inflation eased to a 16-month low of 3.0 percent in April from 3.3 percent in March.
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Early last month, monetary authorities reduced banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 200 basis points, from 18 percent to 16 percent.
The BSP said the bulk, or 81.5 percent, of foreign portfolio investments went to Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities — mainly holding firms; property companies; banks; food, beverage and tobacco companies; and transportation services firms.
Peso government securities accounted for the rest.
The United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries, making up 76.7 percent of the total.
May’s outflows of $1.987 billion reflected an increase of 40.1 percent from $1.418 billion a year ago.
It was also 54.2 percent higher than the $1.288 billion in April “as investors reacted to the renewed trade tensions between the US and China,” the central bank said.
Echoing the Bangko Sentral’s view, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa noted that May was a month of heightened concerns about the ongoing trade spat between Washington and Beijing.
“With [the] market back then becoming increasingly anxious about the tariff-slinging taking place (US hiked tariffs on Chinese products, with Beijing retaliating with their own) and the repercussions on global growth, foreign investors opted to head for the exits,” Mapa said.
He also pointed out that Asian markets were hit hard with the US targeting Huawei, prompting foreign players to offload stocks of companies related to the technology sector.
Going forward, Mapa said “market sentiment and the subsequent flow of funds [would] likely take its cue from the ongoing trade spat, as well as the direction of major central banks like the Fed,” referring to the US central bank, formally known as the Federal Reserve.
On the other hand, the United States remained the main destination of repatriated funds, accounting for 81.5 percent.
Year-to-date, hot money flows were negative at a net inflow of $685 million, reversing the year-earlier $813.81 million.
Speculative funds invested in financial assets are a component of the Philippines’ balance of payments, which summarizes the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world over a certain period.
The Bangko Sentral expects this type of investment to post a net inflow of about $4 billion this year.
Last year, hot money hit a net inflow of $1.204 billion, the highest in five years and an about-face from 2017’s $195.40-million net outflow.
The 2018 tally was also better than the BSP’s forecast of a $100-million net outflow and was the largest net inflow since 2013’s $4.225 billion.
French President Emmanuel Macron awarded Elton John, 72, the prestigious Legion of Honor a day after the singer’s farewell concert in Paris, describing the Briton as an “icon.” AFP PHOTO
NIXEMIS: French President Emmanuel Macron presented rock legend Elton John with France’s highest civilian honor on Friday, and urged international mobilization for one of the showman’s dearest causes: combating AIDS.
“AIDS still exists, still strikes, and continues to advance,” Macron told about 2,000 people assembled for the ceremony at the presidential palace.
“We still have a lot to do to convince (people) that they must protect themselves, that it is not a story of the previous generation but of young people today,” the president said with the rock star by his side.
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Macron called for a mass mobilisation so that the next meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Lyon, France, in October, will be able to raise $13 billion for its next three years of work to tackle the three diseases that still fell millions.
“It is simple, we are at a critical moment because we do not know if we will have the money for the next three years,” the French leader said, adding the money could save 16 million lives.
The Global Fund is credited with saving 27 million lives since its creation in 2002.
Macron awarded John, 72, the prestigious Legion of Honor a day after the singer’s farewell concert in Paris, describing the Briton as an “icon.”
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The ceremony took place on France’s Fete de la Musique, when amateur musicians are invited to make music in the streets to celebrate midsummer.
John, whose rollercoaster life was captured in the “Rocketman” biopic that wowed critics at the Cannes film festival last month, used the occasion to promote his charity work.
Although parts of his five-decade career were consumed by sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, as depicted in “Rocketman”, he also used his stardom to promote gay rights and raise funds for HIV/AIDS research and treatment.
“This commitment to music and the fight against AIDS is the story of your life, dear Elton,” Macron told the superstar, who sported a jacket with the inscription “Bennie and the Jets” and rose-tinted glasses.
John spoke of a special love story with France, and thanked the nation for its commitment to the battle against AIDS.
Last year, John announced he would retire after a final global tour, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children with husband David Furnish, who also attended Friday’s ceremony.
John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour kicked off in Pennsylvania in September.
The three-year extravaganza, expected to involve some 300 shows, took him to the northern city of Lille on Tuesday and to Paris on Thursday. “I’m going to miss you so much,” he told more than 26,000 fans who turned out to seen him in Lille.
He will also play concerts in Bordeaux and Nimes. AFP
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to conduct a joint and impartial investigation with China to determine the truth and accountability on the ramming incident at the Recto Bank involving Chinese and Filipino vessels, his spokesman said on Saturday.
In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte accepted China’s proposed joint inquiry and suggested the creation of a committee to investigate the incident to reach a “satisfactory closure.”
“The Palace wishes to inform our people that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte welcomes and accepts the offer of the Chinese Government to conduct a joint investigation to determine what really transpired in Recto Bank and find a satisfactory closure to this episode,” Panelo said.
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“To this end, the President wants the creation of a joint investigating committee that shall be composed of three groups of highly qualified and competent individuals, with Philippines and China having one representative each, and a third member coming from a neutral country,” he added.
Panelo, also the President’s chief legal counsel, recognized that the duty of seafarers to rescue those at peril in the sea was “a well entrenched principle of international law, maritime law, and humanitarian law.”
“The basic dictates of justice demand a full account of the events that ultimately led to the abandonment of our 22 distressed firshermen in the middle of the sea and accountability of those at fault,” he said.
The Palace official said that a joint investigation was prudent compared to separate inquiries by the Philippines and China to prevent allegations of “bias.”
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“Having separate investigations by the two countries may raise speculation and accusation of bias. Such circumstance will put any finding by any side open to question and place the entire issue in a confused state,” Panelo said.
“On the other hand, a joint and impartial investigation will not only promote the expedient resolution of the issue, it will also be in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which places paramount emphasis on the use of peaceful means to resolve international disputes,” he added.
Despite the government’s consent to a joint investigation on the incident, Panelo made clear that the government remained committed to uphold the country’s sovereignty and seek justice for the fishermen affected by the collision.
“To be clear, we are by no means relinquishing any inch of our sovereign rights, nor compromising the rights of our 22 fishermen. We are demanding justice for our countrymen, and we are using all legal means toward that end,” he said.
Before leaving the country to attend the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Thailand, the President on Friday insisted that the ramming incident was “not an attack on our sovereignty” and warned that if it were, it would result into a war that the Philippines “was not ready for.”
In a speech during the oath-taking ceremony of his son, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte, the President said that the incident happened beyond the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
“Remember, the Recto Reed. It is not a matter of sovereignty. We only have 12 miles, that is part of our territory as a Republic. Beyond that, what we have is the exclusive economic zone,” he said.
“It is not an attack on our sovereignty. That is far,” the President added.
Duterte said that if it was an attack on the Philippines’ sovereignty, it would result in a war, which the Philippines was not ready for.
“Can you handle the missile of China? If you remove the Marines in Palawan, it will be all over. I will not do that,” he said.
However, Duterte insisted that he was not afraid of China.
“I am not afraid of China. I am afraid of [us engaging in a war] and we cannot put up a fight. We may lose,”!he said.
The President also rejected suggestions to ask for United States’ support because it could become a “bloody confrontation.”
He also said that such actions were not necessary because no one died, anyway.
China denied that the ramming incident was a hit-and-run and that it was an “ordinary” maritime accident.
Twenty-two Filipinos were on board the fishing vessel. They were rescued by a Vietnamese ship, which ferried them to Palawan.
AS part of his administration’s effort to boost rural development of special economic zones (ecozones) in the countryside, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a ban on the processing of applications for ecozones in Metro Manila.
Duterte signed on June 17 Administrative Order (AO) 18, directing the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to stop accepting, processing, or evaluating applications for the creation of ecozones in Metro Manila.
“To complement existing strategies and policies on rural development, the PEZA shall no longer accept, process or evaluate applications for the establishment of ecozones in Metro Manila immediately upon the effectivity of this Order and until such moratorium is lifted,” the order read.
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“The herein moratorium shall not prevent locator companies from commencing their operations on existing ecozones in Metro Manila,” it added.
Created through Republic Act (RA) 7916 or the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, the PEZA is mandated to review proposals for and endorse to the President the establishment of ecozones.
RA 7916 establishes the legal framework and mechanisms for the integration, coordination, planning and monitoring of special ecozones, industrial estates or parks, export processing zones, and other ecozones.
Duterte signed AO 18 to “promote rural development, ensure inclusive growth in the countryside, and create robust economic activity and wealth generation in areas outside Metro Manila.”
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Meanwhile, an application endorsed by PEZA and submitted to the President’s office prior to the issuance of the order would not be covered by the ban, given that there were no deficiencies in its supporting documents or such were “satisfactorily” addressed within 30 days from the order’s effectivity or from receipt of notice of such deficiencies, according to AO 18.
“The exclusion of an application from the herein moratorium shall not be construed as a guarantee that the same will be granted,” it added.
AO 18 ordered the Information, Trade, Transportation, Public Works departments; the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and PEZA to hasten human capital and infrastructure development, and provide needed interventions to strengthen ecozones in the countryside.
All departments, bureaus, offices, agencies or instrumentalities of the government, including government-owned or -controlled corporations, are also directed to provide support in the implementation of the order.
AO 18, which was released by Malacañang on Saturday, takes effect immediately after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. CATHERINE S. VALENTE
Manny Pacquiao performs crunches at the Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California on Monday morning. PHOTO BY WENDELL ALINEA
LOS ANGELES: After a boxing career that has spanned nearly a quarter of a century and 70 professional contests, it is little surprise that Manny Pacquiao has his training regime honed to perfection.
On July 20, the 40-year-old Filipino icon will climb into the ring for the 71st time when he faces Keith Thurman at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, aiming to capture the undefeated American’s World Boxing Association super world welterweight crown.
To prepare himself for a contest that the younger, hard-hitting Thurman has vowed to ensure will be Pacquiao’s last, the veteran superstar will rely on a formula that has served him so well over the years.
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Pacquiao wakes at around dawn each day in the multi-million-dollar mansion that has been his Los Angeles base for the past decade.
If sparring is scheduled for later in the day, Pacquiao will embark on a light morning workout, jogging to a park two miles from his home where he runs laps, shadow boxes and performs core work.
On non-sparring days, he heads to Griffith Park, for a longer, more gruelling run in the hills which frame the sprawling Californian metropolis.
Accompanying him are around two dozen training partners, security, friends and fans, a feature of Pacquiao’s rise to the pinnacle of his sport.
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At a recent morning workout, a crowd of around 100 people, many from Los Angeles’ large Filipino community, gather to watch as the eight-division world champion grimaces his way through a series of sit-ups and crunches, occasionally pausing to check his phone.
When it is over, Pacquiao heads back to a home that is soon a hive of activity. To the casual observer the household has a vague air of organised chaos.
At most hours of the day in his luxurious 4,200 square foot, five-bedroom residence — decorated with portraits of his family and large framed photographs of his signature victories — dozens of loosely affiliated members of “Team Pacquiao” are milling around.
The unrelenting hum would be anathema for more reclusive fighters, who prefer to conduct their training camps in seclusion, away from prying eyes.
‘I want people around’
Pacquiao, though, says simply that he is a people person. The ever-present throng energises him.
“I want to have people around so that I’m motivated,” he tells Agence France-Presse after a breakfast of white rice, broth and grilled meat prepared by his Filipino chefs.
“My feeling is that I don’t want anybody to see me being lazy. I want to impress them every day. I love it, as long as it’s not distracting me or affecting my training.”
Some of his closest confidantes, however, have mixed feelings about the cast of extras who have hitched their wagons to Pacquiao’s star.
“A lot of it is support, a lot of it is they want to be on TV or something,” says trainer Freddie Roach. “But it works for him. He knows how to get in shape and he does it very, very well.”
Roach, however, admits to worrying that bankrolling the entourage may ultimately drain Pacquiao’s fortune, estimated at around $200 million.
“I bet Manny doesn’t even know the names of at least 50 percent of the people in his house right now as we speak,” Roach told Agence France-Presse in an interview.
“Manny’s a nice guy. He likes to help people. I always say that’s why he might be broke when he’s through. Because he gives it all away. He’s just too generous.”
That generosity knows few boundaries, whether it is buying land and building homes for more than 1,000 poverty-stricken families in the Philippines, or paying to fly his entourage around the world on chartered commercial jetliners.
For now, though, the money keeps rolling in.
Pacquiao will reportedly receive $20 million for the Thurman fight, and banked $10 million from his January defeat of Adrien Broner, paydays that will keep the free-spending show firmly on the road.
But how much longer Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 knockouts) is willing to put his body on the line to generate those kinds of numbers is anyone’s guess.
‘Boxing is my passion’
His retirement in 2016 proved short-lived, Pacquiao returning to the ring seven months later.
“Boxing is my passion,” Pacquiao tells Agence France-Presse. “It’s really hard to stop and hang up the gloves when you know that you can still fight.
“My mind is very active, 100 percent focused and wants to continue my career. But sometimes I have to listen to my body.”
Roach believes Pacquiao, a member of the Philippines Senate, intends to extend his career until 2022 to coincide with a run for the presidency of his homeland, something the boxer has repeatedly played down.
“He wants to be the first person to be president and world champion at the same time,” Roach says.
“I think he’ll keep going long enough to try and make that happen.
Yet the potential threats to Pacquiao’s longevity in a welterweight scene brimming with fearsomely accomplished, and younger, practitioners are obvious.
As well as the 30-year-old Thurman (29-0, 22 knockouts), the unbeaten Terence Crawford looms across the division.
Veteran promoter Bob Arum recently voiced concern that Pacquiao risked serious injury by fighting into his 40s. Pacquiao, who no longer works with Arum, says the fears for his safety are misplaced.
“He cares about me, I understand what he’s saying,” Pacquiao said of Arum’s remarks. “But I’m not the only one who has fought at this age. George Foreman, other boxers who fought when they’re 47 years old or 50 years old. I’m not saying that at age 47 or 50 I’m going to still be fighting. No. But it depends how you discipline yourself, how you work hard.”
Working hard has never been a problem for Pacquiao. Strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune says Pacquiao needs to be reined in. “He’s a gym rat,” Fortune says. “He never gains weight. His metabolism must be off the charts.”
Time to quit?
Roach, meanwhile, hopes that Pacquiao will stick to an agreement the two men made several years ago, namely that when the 59-year-old cornerman believes it is time for him to retire, he will heed the advice and hang up his gloves.
“I think that agreement might have been made too long ago,” Roach says. “Because I think that even if I do say ‘Manny it’s time to quit, you’ve lost a step, you’re not the old Manny Pacquiao,’ there’s too many people around him who will tell him that I’m full of shit, and he may listen to them.
“At one time I’d have said our agreement was pretty solid and he’d listen to me. But today I’m not so sure.”
For the time being, however, there is no sign of Pacquiao’s speed or punching power being on the wane, according to Roach.
After arriving in Los Angeles last week following the first half of his training camp in the Philippines, Pacquiao has looked impressively sharp.
Roach has also resumed wearing protective padding in mitt sessions in order to hone Pacquiao’s aggressive streak.
The devoutly religious Pacquiao is said to be incensed by Thurman’s vow to “crucify” him in the ring, remarks that Roach says have got Pacquiao “a bit upset.”
“So that helps,” Roach said. “He wants to win this one a little bit more than usual.” AFP
China’s Xi Jinping made a historic move this week with his two-day visit to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Both are facing challenges of their own with US President Donald Trump, but they share a common interest in the resolution of those issues, and the two allies made sure America and the rest of the world hear their declarations of friendship and strong alliance.
From their face-to-face talks on Thursday and Friday — the first on North Korean soil between its leader and that of China’s in 14 years, although Kim had traveled to China and elsewhere a few times to meet Xi — the world watched with keen interest in seeing significant results.
First we must be aware that among the issues faced separately by North Korea and China, two stand out as most critical and urgent: the deadlock between North Korea and the United States in their nuclear negotiations after they failed to reach a deal during their February summit in Hanoi and the protracted trade war between China and the US.
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We may not know exactly what transpired during the Kim-Xi meeting, as we can’t expect to be told the details by the reclusive Korean state what strategies it agreed with China to apply as they contend with the power America wields in the global arena.
But at least we learned from the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that Kim saw the Chinese President’s visit as an opportunity to demonstrate “the immutability and invincibility of the DPRK-China friendship before the world.”
The KCNA initially reported that Kim and Xi agreed to “promote close strategic communication” and develop their “common interests.” That was echoed on Saturday by Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, which said in an editorial, “DPRK-China relationship is an invincible friendship that firmly combines military camaraderie and trust.”
The two countries obviously believe it is in their best interest to show the US and all other countries who have a stake in the US-China trade war and around the Korean Peninsula that China and North Korea will have a stronger clout when they band together.
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North Korea also appeared to be keen to impress upon the outside world that its relationship with Beijing is strongly grounded on history as they both survived the Japanese rule, describing how the “sacred period of the anti-Japanese struggle has become the foundation of the DPRK-China friendship.”
The commentary in Rodong Sinmun comes shortly before the G20 summit takes place in Japan, where Trump will meet with China’s Xi, and on the first of the two-day Asean summit in Bangkok, where the US-China trade war will take the spotlight.
On the issue of the stalled Kim-Trump talks over denuclearization and peace in the Korean Peninsula, a positive result was reported by the Chinese CCTV, which quoted Kim as saying he was willing to be patient in the talks with the US, although he wanted the parties concerned to meet him halfway.
A closer look into China’s CCTV story as quoted by the Western news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), shows that Xi gave Kim some encouragement by saying China “positively evaluated” the North’s efforts.
AFP, in its own interview, quoted Jeung Young-tae, director of the Institute of North Korean Studies in Seoul, as saying the just concluded meeting between Kim and Xi “amounted to China giving Kim strong backing in the process.”
As the “Big Brother” expressed support to Kim’s position in the negotiations with Trump and to stick to his demands, Xi’s words of encouragement seemed to have prodded the North Korean leader to consider opening up again to fresh negotiations with the US.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the South’s state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, may be right when he said Xi’s support gave Kim a “political and diplomatic opening to resume talks with the US again.”
This time, when Kim renews his call for Washington to adopt a new method of calculation for the negotiations, the US might take that as a challenge to formulate a new, broader or innovative set of parameters for new talks to progress into a more feasible deal.
The premiere slalom duo of the current Phoenix National Slaloms Series, the Riveras, took a superb 1-2 finish during the fourth leg held in Robinsons Antipolo recently. However, it was the younger racing champion Estefano Rivera that led his older brother and defending slalom champion Milo Rivera.
Both used Estefano’s race car, as they took turns topping their respective classes right before the rains put a stop to the chase for the overall best time. Estefano had more runs to establish the fastest time of the day at 44.34 seconds. Milo ran in one class and logged in the second-best time at 45 seconds. Both were happy with their results.
Estefano Rivera logs in the fastest time of the day during the fourth leg of the current Phoenix National Slaloms Series. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
“The race was a great result for us as a team,” Estefano said after the race. “Finishing 1-2 was a big bonus as me and Milo did very fast times early before the rains came. This race gave us a chance to try our new upgrades and we were happy with the results.”
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“I’m very happy that in the end, Estefano reigned and extended his lead in the championship,” added Milo. “I felt lucky that in my limited runs, I was still able to take second overall. I’m just warming up for the circuit races that I will be doing soon, and Estefano is our priority to help him win the slalom championship.”
The third best time was taken by Powee Base with 45.13 seconds, while past front-wheel drive slalom champion Jevoy Moreno took fourth with 45.18 seconds. These two drivers, along with the best Novice driver and fifth placer Rod Chang with 46.16 seconds, are the top drivers crowding Estefano for the overall slalom title.
The next two legs of the Phoenix National Slaloms will be held on June 30 at Robinsons Sta. Rosa in Laguna and the next weekend on July 7 at Robinsons Starmills in Pampanga.
