China – Philippines slamming Anew over Chinese devil tongue strayed in ASEAN Shores

China's devil tongue extending to the ASEAN shores

China slams Philippine bid to "legalize" occupation of islands

(Reuters) - China accused the Philippines on last week (April 26, 2013) of trying to legalize its occupation of islands in Kalayaan  in the disputed West Philippines Sea and South China Sea, repeating that Beijing would never agree to international arbitration.

Frustrated with the slow pace of regional diplomacy, the Philippines in January angered China by asking a U.N. tribunal to order a halt to Beijing's activities that it said violated Philippine sovereignty over the islands, surrounded by potentially energy-rich waters 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone granted by UNCLOS..

Claims by an increasingly powerful China over most of the West Philippines Sea and South China Sea have set it directly against U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the waters and China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea.

Manila said on Thursday that a U.N. arbitration court had set up the tribunal which would hear Manila's complaint, but China said this was an attempt to steal Chinese territory.

"The Philippine side is trying to use this to negate China's territorial sovereignty and attach a veneer of 'legality' to its illegal occupation of Chinese islands and reefs," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

The Philippines must immediately withdraw personnel and facilities from the islands, the ministry added, listing those which it said Manila was occupying.

Manila asked the tribunal of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to order a halt to China's activities.

But the convention did not apply in this case as what the Philippines was actually asking for was a decision on sovereignty, the Chinese ministry said.

"China's refusal to accept the Philippines' request for arbitration has full grounding in international law," it said.

China had always believed that the two countries should resolve their dispute through direct talks, the ministry added.

The worry of the Philippines is china's inability to honor its word for bilateral talks as proven anew when both agreed to de-escalate the stand-off in Scarborough Shoal.

China and the Philippines agreed to remove their ships in the island which is within 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines to end the standoff but after Philippine Ship removal, china did not leave the island and in fact block all the passage of the Philippines and ram with Filipino fishermen killing 1.

The Philippines lost its confidence and trust to china anew after the incidents. The Scarborough Shoal now is virtually controlled by China with thousand of kilometers from its closest shore and around 2 hundred Kilometers from Luzon Island' biggest island in the Philippines.

Southeast Asian nations stepped up efforts on Thursday to engage China in talks to resolve maritime tensions, agreeing to meet to try to reach common ground on disputed waters ahead of planned discussions in Beijing later this year.

Efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to craft a code of conduct to manage South China Sea tensions all but collapsed last year at a summit chaired by Cambodia, a close economic ally of China, when the group failed to issue a closing statement for the first time. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Philippine Navy chief slams Chinese maneuvers in disputed sea

Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano said Chinese naval maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and use of non-military maritime vessels way beyond its coastlines to advance sovereignty claims to most of the sea were both "aggressive and excessive."

Alano, who was appointed Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy last December, met with Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of US Naval Operations, at the Pentagon on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the South China Sea and navy-to-navy issues.

News reports from China said the PLA Navy dispatched a large contingent of ships to circumnavigate the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea last month, a maneuver likened to marking Chinese territory.

Beijing's claim to the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea is based on its so-called nine-dash map which shows a U-shaped area encompassing most of the sea, including territories claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan which other known as "Devil's tongue strayed in the ASEAN Shore)

Alano will travel on Friday to North Charleston, South Carolina to inspect the second of two Coast Guard cutters that the Philippines has acquired from the US.

The 378-foot Hamilton-class vessel Dallas, rechristened BRP Ramon Alcaraz, is in the final stages of refurbishing and refitting and will soon join the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the first US Coast Guard cutter acquired by Manila in 2011 for duty in the West Philippine Sea.

Alcaraz was officially handed over to the Philippines in May 2012 and should have been operating in Philippine waters by now.

But unexpected technical problems and upgrades on the ship have caused some delays and Alano said he expected the Alcaraz to set sail for the Philippines around the third week of June.

He said Alcaraz has been fitted with two new secondary guns – fully automated Mk 38 25mm bushmaster cannons – and a modern radar system. The Gregorio del Pilar will be fitted with similar new cannons.

A complement of 88 Filipino officers and crew under the command of Capt. Ernesto Baldovino have been living aboard the Alcaraz while it has been undergoing repairs to familiarize themselves with all the technical, mechanical and computerized aspects of the ship.

They will be joined by a six-member technical working group including training evaluation experts scheduled to arrive from Manila next month to give the vessel and crew the final go ahead to cross the Pacific to its new home in the Philippines.

In an interview with The STAR on his arrival in Washington on Wednesday, Alano said the prestige of the Philippine Navy was on the rise because of the acquisition of new firepower and the due recognition it was receiving from the government and the public.

Morale was high, more graduates of the Philippine Military Academy were opting for naval careers and the service was attracting more interest from recruits with technical and computer skills, he said.  

The Philippines last year expressed an interest in acquiring a third Hamilton class Coast Guard ship but is not now actively pursuing it.

Alano said given the current exigencies to create a credible maritime defense force, interest has shifted to purchasing new vessels and helicopters to extend the range of these vessels.

He said the Philippines was looking at proposals from several countries for two new 2,000-ton frigates with full surface and anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities.

It was also interested in acquiring strategic sealift vessels to give the Navy the capability to transport heavy cargo and large numbers of troops.

The Philippines was also in negotiations for the acquisition of three AW109 lightweight helicopters built by the Anglo-Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland which can be used for medevac (medical evacuation), search-and-rescue and military roles.

"We should receive them by next year," Alano said.

Additionally, he said the Navy has received six Philippine-made multi-purpose attack craft and more are being programmed for acquisition.

With reports from Reuters and philSTAR

Continue reading

Why Extremely Poor in the Philippines keeps rising in spite of Fastest Economic Growth in Asia?

Analysts and even the Philippine government said "The effect of this Economic growth could not be experience by the poor" in an overnight which means maybe tomorrow everyone will enjoy a better life but could it be possible, when could it happen?

The Philippine government since the Arroyo administration introduced the easy "Band Aid" solution for the poor through a "direct cash transfer programme" which is known as "Pantawid Program". The same system is followed by the Aquino Administration but how effective is the Pantawid program?

There is a sayings "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The pantawid program is good but it is not a long and lasting solution to end the poverty in the Philippines.

While other neighbors are enjoying thousands of dollars remittance from the "OFW" abroad, other neighbors on the other hand are continuously suffering hunger and living below the standards which we could consider as "extremely poor".

Do you think that it is right that Tax payers are paying their taxes to the government and would just be distributed to the poor families for their basic needs for one day then tomorrow the same problem again?  

There seems to be a paradox in the present Philippine situation with a large number of Filipinos still mired in extreme poverty amidst an economic growth that is among the fastest in the region.

On Tuesday, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), a government agency, announced that the poverty incidence in the Philippines stood at 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012, practically unchanged from the same period in 2009, which was 28.6 percent, and in 2006 which was 28.8 percent.

The NSCB data show that 10 percent of the country's population of about 97 million is still living below the poverty level.

In a briefing, NSCB Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert said that during the first semester of 2012, a Filipino family of five needed 5,458 Philippine pesos (136 U.S. dollars) monthly to meet basic food needs.

"Families earning that amount were considered to be living in extreme poverty," Albert said.

After the bad news, that was bannered by leading Manila newspapers, came the good news on Wednesday when Moody's Analytics described the Philippines as a "rising star" poised to record one of the fastest growth rates in the world.

Moody's Analytics said that the Philippines is likely to grow between 6.5 and 7 percent this year and within the same range next year, "outperforming not only the anemic advanced economies but also many robustly growing emerging markets."

It also said that if favorable economic trends continue, the growth rate for the Philippines could be close to 8 percent by 2016.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank also upped their growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 6 percent.

Moody's Analytics, a sister company of credit rating watchdog Moody's Investor Service, said the country's 6.6 percent growth in 2012 was achieved despite weak growth in the United States, a crisis in the eurozone and a slowdown in China.

On March 27, the Philippines also obtained its first-ever investment-grade rating from Fitch Ratings.

On a similar vein, international credit rating firm Standard & Poor's has raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for this year from 5.9 to 6.5 percent. At the same time, it said the economy was expected to post another robust growth of 6.3 percent in 2014.

"The ASEAN 5 - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - are more domestically driven and, therefore, continue to enjoy relatively high and stable growth rates. This is not the case elsewhere," S&P said.

The paradox of continuing poverty amidst strong growth has been explained by analysts here.

Norio Usui, ADB senior country economist, said that the government must solve the problem of jobless growth if it hoped to reduce poverty.

"I am not surprised at all. The benefits of strong economic growth have not spilled over to the people because they still cannot find a job," Usui was quoted as saying in a report.

In January 2013 jobless rate stood at 7.1 percent, with a further 20.9 percent underemployed or those working fewer than 40 hours a week. About 41.8 percent of the underemployed are in the farming sector.

Professor Benjamin Diokno of the University of the Philippines School of Economics said that the strong economic growth in 2010 and 2012 "were not enough to extricate a lot of people from the poverty trap."

Sen. Ralph Recto, chairman of the ways and means committee of the Philippine Senate, said that only the rich and the educated have benefited from the infrastructure projects of the government and not the poor and uneducated.

"This led to income inequality with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer," Recto said.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the challenge now is to spur growth in agriculture to create more jobs, increase production and ensure that the production translates to a greater income for farmers since the bulk of the population was still in the agricultural sector.

Lacierda noted that private investments had increased, and that public infrastructure spending in 2012 was around 250 billion pesos (6.25 billion U.S. dollars).

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it hoped to see improved results given new investments in infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.

"Although this first semester result on poverty incidence is not the dramatic result we wanted, we remain hopeful that, with the timely measures we are now implementing, the next rounds of poverty statistics will give much better results," NEDA Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said at a briefing.

With reports from Wall Street Journal, Inquirer, Malaya and philSTAR

Continue reading

Bangko Sentral sa Pilipinas named ‘Best Regulator’ in Asia Pacific Region

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been chosen as the 2013 Best Macroeconomic Regulator in the Asia Pacific Region by The Asian Banker, one of Asia's leading financial services consultancies.

The award was given during The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards in Jakarta, Indonesia, last Tuesday April 23, 2013.

BSP Assistant Governor Ma. Cyd Tuaño-Amador attended The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards and received the accolade in behalf of the BSP.

The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards are widely acknowledged by the financial services industry as the highest possible recognition available to industry professionals in the Asia Pacific region.

Established in 2001, the awards are among the most difficult and most exclusive accolades to win because of the stringent evaluation process involved.

The Asian Banker said: "The selection process is a rigorous one, completed over several months and involving feedback and interviews with all constituents who are in a position to comment on the candidates. All of these make this a world-class evaluation programme, and the insights gained from the programme are published in an annual report."

The awards ceremony—which was a gathering of international and domestic institutions that have excelled in transaction banking, risk management and technology—was held in conjunction with The Asian Banker Summit.

MALAYA Business Insight

Continue reading

WSJ: Philippines $8 billion raised, now outperforming Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia

Philippines Stands Out in Capital Markets

The Philippines has become one of Asia's hottest markets for share and bond sales, getting a boost from a buoyant stock market and its recent acquisition of an investment-grade credit rating.

Just four months into the year, companies owned by tycoon Lucio Tan and blue-chip giant San Miguel Corp. SMC.PH -0.56% have raised billions. Bankers expect more capital-raising in the months to come.

Deals totaling more than $1.5 billion are in the pipeline, and strong demand for recent sales could spark more activity in the country's equities and bond markets. Overseas-listed companies with operations in the Southeast Asian country, such as casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., MPEL +1.17% are taking advantage of an upbeat outlook for the Philippines' consumption-driven economy to launch deals.

This month, the Asian Development Bank increased its forecast for the country's 2013 economic growth to 6% from 5%. The Philippines has a population of 100 million.

Last year, share sales totaled $3.5 billion, six times the $594 million raised in 2008, according to Dealogic data. Now, the country is in the third spot for equity fund raising in Southeast Asia, overtaking Malaysia, a favorite destination for deals last year.

In the debt market, the Philippines is leading in Southeast Asia, with about $8 billion raised so far this year. Last year, it was third.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images. The Philippines has become one of Asia's hottest markets for stock and bond sales. Students earlier this month perform in the Aliwan Festival in Manila. The annual festival brings together performers from around the country to celebrate Filipino culture.

Traditional fundraising hubs like Hong Kong have fallen behind so far this year as investors turn to Southeast Asia, where stock markets have surged on expectations of strong economic growth and rising domestic consumption.

The Philippines' stock market has gained 20% so far this year, outperforming Indonesia's 15%, Thailand's 11% and Singapore's 3.7%. The Philippines stock market has a market capitalization of more than $300 billion, and is dominated by family-owned businesses.

Many were forced to issue more shares in order to remain listed after the country's stock-market regulator began to more strictly enforce a rule on minimum public ownership last year. The handful of listed companies that failed to meet the Dec. 31 deadline have been suspended from trading since January, and will face delisting if they don't hit the 10% level by June 30.

Investors' appetite for the Philippines is strong. Mr. Tan's LT Group Inc. LTG.PH -0.64% raised 37.72 billion Philippine pesos ($917 million) last week. Orders for the stock sale totaled $3.5 billion. The deal was priced at 20.50 pesos per share, the top of the range banks handling the deal had indicated to investors. More than half came from 11 cornerstone investors—buyers who agree to take large parcels of shares and hold them for a set period—including Fidelity and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

"Deals are getting bigger...the country is on the radar screen of investors," said Lauro Baja III, head of UBS UBSN.VX +2.89% Philippines, which managed the LT Group share sale.

Foreign companies are also benefiting from investors' confidence in the Philppines. Apart from a $377 million share placement by Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown, which is going on now, Malaysia's Genting Bhd. 3182.KU 0.00% and its Philippine partner are planning to list a Manila casino via an initial public offering that could raise more than $500 million.

San Miguel, which is managed by Filipino tycoon Ramon Ang and manufactures the country's top-selling beer, said its $800 million bond sale this month attracted orders of more than $1 billion within the first hour. Orders for the deal, which attracted investors from Asia, Europe and the U.S. and was the country's largest corporate bond sale ever, totaled almost six times the amount of debt for sale.

Corporate bond offerings in the Philippines used to meet with tepid demand from investors. That changed in March, when Fitch Ratings raised the Philippines' long-term foreign-currency credit rating by a notch to BBB-minus, an investment grade

"Of late, we are starting to see more [corporate] issuers," said Clifford Lee, managing director of fixed income at DBS Bank Ltd. Other deals in the pipeline include a $500 million Tier 2 capital bond, to be issued by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., MBT.PH -1.60% and a $170 million peso-denominated bond from geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp., EDC.PH -0.76% according to regulatory filings.

But at the same time that companies are stepping up their bond issuance, sales from the government, the usual bond issuer, are falling.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said Tuesday the government won't issue bonds overseas this year because it doesn't want to add to inflows of capital that have strengthened the peso. The government will issue bonds domestically. The Philippines, one of the most active Asian sovereign borrowers, usually starts selling debt overseas in the first quarter but hasn't offered any so far this year.

Wall Street Journal

Continue reading

Bloomberg: Emerging Stocks Rise Led by Philippines as Hungary Slumps

Emerging-market stocks rose, led by Philippine companies, on speculation falling deposit rates will spur demand for the nation's equities. Hungarian equities tumbled to the lowest level in about a month.

Ayala Corp. (AC) jumped 5.4 percent in Manila, helping drive the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to a record. Erste Group Bank AG led the Czech PX index higher. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR), Africa's third-largest producer of the metal, climbed a second day as gold extended its rebound. Billionaire Eike Batista's OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA surged 18 percent in Sao Paulo, sending Brazil's Bovespa index up a third day.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) rose 0.1 percent to 1,011.96 in New York as 436 stocks gained, while 342 retreated. The Philippine peso halted a three-day gain on speculation the central bank will lower the interest rate on its special deposit accounts for a third time this year. Earlier today, stocks fell after a drop in American home sales.

"A cut in SDA rates will entice people to look for other investment havens offering higher yields, such as the equities market," Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila, said by phone.

Consumer discretionary and technology shares led the gains in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The emerging-markets index has lost 4.1 percent this year, trailing a 6.6 percent increase in the MSCI World Index of developed-country stocks. The emerging-markets measure trades at 10.6 times 12-month projected profit, compared with the MSCI World's 13.9 valuation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Emerging ETF

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund rose 0.5 percent to $41.84. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index, a measure of options prices on the fund and expectations of price swings, lost 5 percent to 19.68.

The Bovespa index rose 0.7 percent, rebounding from earlier losses. OGX extended a three-day rally to 29 percent after Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported that Moscow-based Lukoil may buy a 40 percent stake. The company said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News that Folha's report is "groundless."

Russian stocks retreated, erasing earlier gains, as OAO Gazprom slid after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cited the natural gas export monopoly's dividend plans in a report downgrading the country's equities.

The Budapest Stock Exchange Index slumped 1.4 percent as the nation's largest refiner Mol Nyrt. Latvia's OMX Riga index had the biggest decline among the 94 primary gauges tracked by Bloomberg.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong stocks rose for a second day as infrastructure- related stocks climbed on speculation demand will increase following an earthquake in China's southwestern province of Sichuan. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) added less than 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.1 percent.

The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries lost one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 295 basis points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI Global Index.

Bloomberg 

Continue reading

7 Big Consortiums compete for ₱17.5 billion Modern Cebu International Airport project

Old Mactan - Cebu International Airport 

Seven groups led by the country's largest business conglomerates, in partnership with key global aviation players, have placed bids for the ₱17.5 billion Mactan Cebu International airport project.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said the groups that submitted qualification documents yesterday included the following:

• Metro Pacific Investments
• JG Summit Airport Consortium
• AAA Airport Partners
• Filinvest Land Inc. and CAI Consortium
• San Miguel Corporation and Incheon Airport Consortium
• First Philippine Airports Consortium
• Premier Airport Group of SM Investment Corporation
• Indian-owned GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium

First Pacific's MPIC of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan has tied up with Gokongwei's JG Summit to form MPIC JGS Airport Holdings Inc. The group has tapped airport experts including French-owned Aeroports de Lyon and OVE Arup Group.

The AAA Airport Partners is led by the Ayala and Aboitiz Groups with consortium members including A2 Airport Partners as well as ADS & HAS Airports Worldwide Inc. The company has tapped Houston Airports Partners and the OVE Arup Group.

The third group is the Filinvest-CAI Consortium led by Gotianun's Filinvest Development Corporation and its foreign partner Changi Airports MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Pte Ltd. Partners include Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cyberzone Properties Inc., EEI Corp., Bougues Batiment International, CPG Consultants Pte Ltd., Woods Bagot Pty Ltd., Meinhardt Philippines Inc., and Changi Airports Saudi Ltd.

On the other hand, SMC has tied up with International Airport Corporation to form the SMC-Incheon Airport Consortium that includes SMC's Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., Incheon Airport International Corp., Mactan Capitana Holdings Inc., and Skylake Incuvest & Co. Partners are

Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd, Keun Jeong Architects and Engineers Co Ltd, and Aecom Asia Co Ltd.

The First Philippine Airports is a tandem between FPHC and Wellington-based Infratil Asia Ltd. The group's partners include Infratil's Wellington International Airport Ltd and NZ Airports Ltd as well as Rockwell Land Inc., Fentress Architects Inc., Buro Happold Consulting Engineers Inc., OVE Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Mott Macdonald Ltd, and First Balfour Inc.

Sy's Holding firm SM Investments Corp. leads the Premier Airport Group together with Citadel Holdings Inc., Zurich Airport International AG, and Prospector Investment Holdings Inc. Partners include mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings Inc., construction giant DM Consunji Inc., and Flughafen Zurich AG.

The final group is the tandem of GMR Infrastructure Ltd of India and publicly-held Megawide Construction Corp. Partners include Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd, GMR Hyderabad International Airport, GMR Airport Developers Ltd, BL Kashyap and Sons Ltd, Vijay Nirman Co. (P) Ltd, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Louis Berger Group Inc., Foster + Partners, and Mott Macdonald Ltd.

Last year, GMR, which has presence in roads, power and airports sectors, had to make an unceremonious exit from Male International Airport after the local government cancelled its concession agreement. Currently, the matter is pending before an arbitration panel.

The Mactan-Cebu airport project involves the construction of a world-class passenger terminal building with a capacity of eight million passengers a year as well as the operation and maintenance of the old and new facilities include a 797-hectare property.

The successful bidder will be awarded a 20-year concession contract to operate, while the project will be developed in two phases at an estimated cost of ₱17.5 billion peso (the currency of Philippines).

MCIA is the second largest airport in the Philippines after Manila International Airport and had handled more than 6.2 million domestic and international passengers in 2011.

The airport is also a major gateway for various tourist destinations in central and southern provinces of Philippines.

With report from philSTAR and Times of India

Continue reading

Real estate, Thailand, Philippines and high-yield funds are performing well

Gold bars at the Zlatarna Celje in Celje, Slovenia. Gold has slumped almost 30 per cent since its peak in September 2011. Photo: Reuters

Real estate, Thailand, the Philippines and high-yield bonds are strong investments while gold has fallen abruptly off the radar

If you are looking to invest, you might be wondering what are the top performing funds? We can answer that. Using data from research firm Lipper, we list the best funds available in Hong Kong, ranked by returns net of fees, over the 12 months to February.

The findings can be summed up thus: real estate, Thailand, Philippines and high-yield bonds have all performed well, but gold has been a disaster.

Funds dedicated to the Philippines and Thailand rank highest among the equity funds. All the top bond funds are in high yield.

At the bottom are investment-grade bonds, particularly those priced in pounds, and anything involved with gold.

High yield

Hongkongers buy more high-yield funds than any other fund category. And when Hong Kong investors want high-yield bonds, they usually want exposure to the mainland property sector.

Jack Deino, a senior portfolio manager for Invesco, manages an emerging market fund that is the third-best fund in the bond category. The fund's second-biggest country exposure is China, and Deino says about 90 per cent of his China bonds come from the property sector.

Mainland property bonds have been strong performers over the past year, in terms of yield and capital gains. But the sector is prone to busts. Regulators routinely bring mainland property firms to the brink of insolvency by rounds of tough rules on mortgages and bank loans, to cool an overheated market.

Bond fund managers are wary of concentration risk. They worry that the government may one day roll out heavy-handed cooling measures, walloping the whole property sector, taking their portfolio down with it.

Deino says these concerns are overstated. "Chinese property is the most misunderstood sector in the world," he says, adding the mainland market is diversified just in sheer size ("each region or each city marches to the beat of its own drummer and has its own demand").

He adds that the big listed mainland developers need bond markets to raise money, and are therefore expert at investor relations, and operate at a high level of transparency and governance.

BEA Union Investment is also focused on mainland property bonds. About half of the firm's Asian bond and currency fund (the second-best performing bond fund) is invested in the asset, says Henry Wong, the firm's head of fixed income.

"In January [last year], we made a very aggressive move into this sector, which is why our performance in 2012 is strong," Wong says.

BEA launched its fund in August 2008 at the height of the global credit crisis. It offered beleaguered investors high-quality Asian-currency alternatives to US and European bonds. At launch, about 80 per cent of the fund was investment grade, says Wong. The fund has since been marching steadily down the credit curve, investing in higher risk and higher return securities. Today, only 10 per cent of the fund is investment grade - much of the rest is high-yield debt from mainland developers.

High yield has risks, but so does high grade. The bottom performing funds in the bond table are all invested in investment-grade bonds from the developed market. The funds lost money largely because yields on such instruments are paltry, barely enough to cover the costs of the fund.

Currency swings are also a factor. Two of the bottom performing funds are in sterling bonds, and the pound lost 4.4 per cent against the Hong Kong dollar over the review period.

SCMP

Continue reading

TIME Magazine : President PNOY - 2nd Worlds Most Influential person, a notch higher Barack Obama

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III - 2nd worlds' most influential person.  LLUSTRATION BY DAVID DESPAU FOR TIME. 

An honorable time

WITH all the negative issues and events currently ongoing, both in the Philippines and around the globe, this comes as a refreshing bit of good news.

Recently, President Benigno Aquino III (PNoy) emerged as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world for 2013.

PNoy ranks second among the world's 23 most influential leaders, next to Rand Paul (a junior US senator from Kentucky) and a notch higher than President Barack Obama, who is in third place.

"In a country of nicknames, Filipinos proudly call their President PNoy — a pun on the word they use for themselves: Pinoy. For his courage, however, he really should have the pet name the family gave his eldest sister Maria Elena: Ballsy," wrote TIME news director, Howard Chua-Eoan, to describe Aquino.

Chua-Eoan said that while PNoy may have inherited the legacy of his parents, Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. and former Pres. Corazon C. Aquino, he "quickly began making his own name."

"The sputtering economy stabilized and became hot. Aquino pushed through a reproductive-rights law that many said was impossible in the fervently Catholic nation. Most important, he became the face of the regional confrontation with Beijing over its claim to virtually all of the South China Sea. It is a brave stance, the long-term consequences still unknown,"Chua-Eoan further said.

PNoy reacted modestly to this recognition, saying that he is merely the "face" of Filipinos.

"This is perhaps a recognition of our countrymen, of all Filipinos, more than anything else. I'm just the face. Like in battles, I'm just the first one to move forward, and I accept that. But if there is any triumph, it's a triumph for everybody," he said.

"We have been reminded that we did quite a lot in terms of achievements. It's clear to me that we only did this because the people are behind me," PNoy further said.

The president credits his motivation to the public's support of the reforms that his administration initiated.

"...because our countrymen are there behind us, they are the ones that gave us the opportunity to reform and continue to support us until now, then I can accept with much honor that distinction – on their behalf rather than for myself," PNoy said.

According to Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, TIME Magazine's article recognized "the true grit which characterizes his (Mr. Aquino's) leadership, and the optimism, dynamism and renewed pride which has restored the standing of our nation in the eyes of Filipinos and the world."

"We take pride in how the ideas of good governance and inclusive growth that are the major thrusts of the Aquino presidency resonate not just with Filipinos but with the entire world. This is especially relevant today, as countries all over are trying to become more inclusive economically, politically, and even culturally, President Aquino is already doing it in the Philippines," Lacierda said.

Of course, not everyone feels the same way.

Some senatoriables gave mixed feedback about this recognition.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan thinks that PNoy's inclusion in the list is not enough to make Filipinos feel the benefits of economic growth.

"We should be happy, but that will not be enough to convince our people that our economy is growing...This honor is deserved I think, but for our people to be equally proud and to feel this on the ground, we should do more than recognize the President," Honasan said.

Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay opined that PNoy being regarded as a most influential person/leader does not mean much for the poor.

"The ordinary Filipinos are concerned about where to get money they can use to feed their families, how to survive the next day, what will be their job to generate income. That is the focus of ordinary Filipinos," she said.

Nevertheless, this should still be a cause for elation and celebration among Filipinos.

While the Philippines continues to flourish (albeit slowly but surely) and be regarded with more respect in the global community, there are things that we are better off removing from our own "list" -- crab mentality most of all.

After all, PNoy said it best: his victory is our victory.

With report from Asian Journal and Time Magazine  

Continue reading

NEDA says MRT-7 and bullet train $4.43 Billion US Dollar ₱182 billion projects under BOT

MRT and Bullet Train Project of approx $4.3 Billion USD (₱182 billion Peso)

The $1.43-billion (₱53 billon) Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) and the $3-billion (₱123 billon) Clark-Metro Manila Bullet Train Project will be constructed under Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) schemes, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said Thursday.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will finance the $1.23-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7). NEDA said the new MRT line will be constructed under a BOT scheme in accordance with Republic Act 7718. The initial construction will be put up in Barangay Tala in San Jose Del Monte. The new MRT line will run through Fairview, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City Memorial Circle and North EDSA. The final station will be constructed in the Paramount theater in front of SM North EDSA and the Triangle of North Manila (TriNoMa) mall.

NEDA added that the new lane will be connected to the now operational LRT-MRT Closing Loop Interconnection Project. Once the MRT-7 Line is completed, the Paramount Station will be a Mega Rail Station.

NEDA also announced that private firm Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has made its intention to fund the Clark-Metro Manila bullet train project under BOT scheme. The plan is to construct the new railways between the lanes of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) because an earlier proposal to construct it parallel to the railway was scrapped due to some technical problems.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said the project will be called "Express Airport Trains" which will have at least three stops in Metro Manila. CIAC said when completed, the bullet trains will shorten travel time from Clark to Manila, and vice versa, to only 45 minutes. The bullet trains' planned stopovers are Balintawak or near TriNoMa or SM North in Quezon City; Manila like Dimasalang or University of Sto. Tomas; and Makati at Buendia Avenue.

Manila Bulletin

 

Continue reading

Philippines at the start of investment boom -starts an investment cycle

STARTING THE CYCLE. A CLSA equity strategist says there is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to start an investment cycle.

There is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to enter an investment boom.

"From a simple macro standpoint, we don't have an evidence yet of an investment cycle in the Philippines like in Indonesia and Thailand. But all the anecdotal evidence, including the PPP projects, the economy... all indications are that we will commence an investment cycle in the Philippines," Christopher Wood, an equity strategist for Hong Kong brokerage and investment firm Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), said.

In a CLSA study he co-authored, Wood said that Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) data from the 4th quarter of 2012 "showed growing evidence of an investment cycle."

"Thus, the Philippines 4Q12 (4th quarter of 2012) real GDP growth accelerated to an annualized 7.5% QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) resulting in real GDP growth of 6.6% YoY (year-on-year) in 2012. But, most importantly, investment grew by 8.7% in 2012 after recording only 0.2% growth in 2011. This provides further evidence that an investment cycle is underway," the paper read.

The CLSA study said that an investment cycle would give "a third investment leg to the Philippines domestic story" on top of remittances and the BPO industry.

PPP delays

"One aspect of this investment cycle should be more rapid implementation of President Benigno Aquino's public-private partnership (PPP) program," the paper read.

Wood said that while investors are disappointed with the delays in the PPP projects, he does not think that the whole exercise is a disaster.

"Everyone's concerned about the delays. But on the other hand, I think a lot of those delays have something to do with due process, making sure that it's done properly. Provided those PPP projects are initiated over the course of the presidential term, that's the key thing, right?" he said.

"If nothing's done by the end of the presidential term, obviously that's a major negative. But from what I'm hearing, a lot of these PPP projects are in qualification stage or bidding stage. It's not like nothing's happening."

Virtuous cycle

Wood said that the Philippines is in a virtuous cycle when it comes to increased foreign investor activity in the stock market.

"The more the market goes up, the greater the number of foreign investors who can buy it because of rising liquidity," the paper read.

Wood said that this was not the case as recently as six months ago. He said that the Philippines had long been dismissed as "uninvestable" because of illiquidity.

In the 1st quarter of 2013, the PSE had an average daily trading volume of $219 million. The figure is much higher than the average of $142 million in 2012.

Foreign net buying of Philippine stocks in the 1st quarter of 2013 stood at $1 billion. The figure is nearly half of the $2.5 billion foreigners spent on Philippine stocks in 2012. -

Rappler.com

Continue reading

Screening of bidders for ₱17.5-billion Cebu airport expansion set

proposed Mactan Cebu International Airport a ₱17.5-billion project Cebu airport expansion

Interested parties in the ₱17.5-billion contract that aims to renovate and expand the Mactan-Cebu International Airport are expected to submit their eligibility documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday, April 22.

"We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," the DOTC said Thursday.

Based on requirements laid down by the department, Philippine companies will have to partner with established airport operators from other countries as the DOTC said this will give local players an opportunity to learn from the technology employed by more advanced aviation firms.

In turn, the DOTC assured the private sector that the joint DOTC-Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIA) Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC) will maintain a level playing field in the bid by upholding transparency and fairness, hallmarks of procurement reforms in the department.

Twelve companies bought bid documents for the project which include the consortium of Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corp., Manuel Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Gokongwei's JG Summit Holdings Inc.; and the joint venture of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

"We are optimistic that the MCIA Project will generate the same level of interest from major local and international companies as what we saw from the AFCS (Automatic Fare Collection System) Project.  We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," said the DOTC.

The project's objective is to efficiently handle the increasing air traffic demand, ensure convenience of expected eight million passengers, and promote aircraft operational efficiency through the construction of new passenger terminal, installation of necessary equipment and renovation and expansion of the existing terminal including maintenance and management.

The 20-year concession contract is expected to be awarded by project leader DOTC before the end of the year. (Virgil Lopez/SDR/Sunnex)

Sunstar

Continue reading

₱30-Billion Project to address Mindanao blackouts - Pres. Noynoy Aquino

NASA Night Map 2013 shows Mindanao is even darker than North Korea.  Mindanao Power shortage has becoming more severe. The demand is higher while the supply is not enough for the entire rich island. Mindanao Island has been forgotten for decades. 

President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed yesterday the contract signing of the ₱30-billion investment of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), Inc. to build power plants in Mindanao and provide 405 megawatts of coal power to the region's grid.

The contract was signed between Phividec Industrial Authority and FDC for the establishment of the 405 megawatt circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired thermal power plant in an 84-hectare land within Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

With the project, President Aquino said Mindanao will soon become the "Land of Promise Fulfilled."

"These plants that Filinvest are committing to is a reaffirmation of this confidence. They are a significant part of the long-term solution. This signing gives us peace of mind that the permanent solutions are being put in place," Aquino said. "By 2016, these three plants, by themselves, will be providing 405 megawatts of coal power to the Mindanao grid."

"With the energy these plants will be producing by 2016, we expect production capacity to be almost 470 megawatts above peak demand," he added.

"We are not just increasing Mindanao's maximum capacity. Beyond that, we are reinforcing their entire energy supply with more reliable and stable sources. We are making their energy infrastructure much more competitive," Aquino said, noting that the establishment of the power plant in Mindanao is expected to generate 2,000 jobs.

President Aquino said the development comes at a critical time when the government is working on a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that with the spur of economic growth in Mindanao comes more lucrative centers in the area aside from Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

NEW POWER PLANT IN MINDANAO –President Benigno S. Aquino III witnesses the signing of a land lease agreement between Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) and the FDC Misamis Power Corp. in Malacañang on April 17, 2013, for the lease of land for the construction of a coal-fired power plant that will generate on initial 270 megawatts of electric power, targeted to operate in 2016. Seated with the President are Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Enegry Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The agreement was signed by PIA Administrator and Vice Chairman of the Board Leo Tereso Magno and FDC President and Managing Director Jesus Alcondo. Others in photo are: Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) First Vice President and General Counsel Atty. Pablito Perez, FLI First Vice President Engr. Antonio Cenon, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) Chairman Jonathan Gotianun Villanueva, Misamis Oriental Mayor Juliette Uy, PIA Chairman of the Board B/Gen. Triunfo Agustin (Ret), PIA Corporate Secretary Atty. Raul Ragandang, and Poblacion Barangay Captain Leah Dagasuhan. (Richard Viñas)

President Aquino, meanwhile, said that while there is a current power crisis in Mindanao, power woes in the southern part of the country did not happen overnight as former local officials in the area relied solely on hydropower without ensuring the maintenance of hydropower plants. Illegal logging was also prevalent.

"So, when we stepped into office, we knew that we had to start working immediately. We began making the structural changes that encouraged the private sector to come in and put up power plants," Aquino said.

He said last year, Aboitiz began a project to build two coal-fired power plants in Davao, which will provide a total of 300 megawatts, which will be finished by late 2015.

"Businessmen normally would tend to be a conservative lot. But here, they are actually placing the other sources to a commitment not in terms of a demonstrated market that is already there but rather this is really a commitment of theirs to share in building a future, which is to invest when it is not exactly clear," Aquino said.

"Everything will materialize in the best light. So, it is a boat of confidence on their part, and this should be encouraged. And, we should help those who are actively helping to solve the problem instead of grandstanding," he said.

The Palace had earlier said that power woes in Mindanao will ease by 2015 as power plants takes three to four years to be established.

Manila Bulletin

Continue reading