Controversial ₱700-million Iloilo Convention Center opens for APEC Summit

PNoy opens Iloilo Convention Center

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III led on Monday the inauguration of the controversial ₱700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC).

Aquino opened the state-of-the-art convention facility located on a 1.7-hectare lot in Iloilo Business Park, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

The ICC became controversial last year after former provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada Jr. alleged that the structure was overpriced and implicated Senate President Franklin Drilon, an Ilonggo.

Mejorada accused Drilon of conspiring with a supposedly favored contractor to rig the bidding of the project.

Mejorada alleged that W.V. Coscoluella and Associates, which designed the building, was awarded a contract without a public bidding and that construction was overpriced by ₱488 million.

President Aquino at the inauguration of the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City. Official Gazette PH

Drilon was charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman in October 2014, but the charge was dismissed for lack of merit.

Two stories high with a floor area of 11,832 square meters, the ICC can accommodate over 3,000 guests. It will be used as one of the venues for some high-level ministerial meetings of this year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

The construction of the ICC began in 2013 and was based on a design inspired by Iloilo's Dinagyang and Paraw festivals.

Aquino also joined the ceremonial launch of the Iloilo Business Park and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo. - Louis Bacani @philSTAR

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The Philippines and KR big winners from China's slowdown but Fearing Investors for MARCOS Jr bid for 2016 Presidency

The Philippines and South Korea are the big winners from China's slowdown

How panicked were investors last week about China's stock market plunge? Enough to treat the Korean peninsula, a place that was teetering on the brink of war, as a safe haven.

Even as policy makers braced for renewed military confrontation between North and South Korea, the won staged a rally.

It may be time to start counting Korea as a developed nation, rather than an emerging market. 

That's made South Korean assets one of the few bright spots in a dark time for emerging markets. On August 24 alone, investors yanked $2.7 trillion out of developing nations, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand especially hard hit. It matched the violent September 2008 selloff after Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Back then, Korea was battered so hard that pundits were calling it the "next Iceland" and the "Bear Stearns economy". Now, together with the Philippines, it's one of Asia's only refuges from chaos.

It's not hard to explain why many Asian economies are suffering from China's slowdown. Exporters of commodities, who depended on a humming Chinese market, have especially suffered. But why are there such big outliers among battered emerging markets?

Less like lemmings

The answer is that investors are finally basing their decisions less on herd mentality than nuanced, case-by-case analyses.

"Emerging market investors have become a lot savvier," says economist Frederic Neumann of HSBC in Hong Kong.

"Gone are the days where emerging markets were all lumped into one bucket. Today, countries with stronger fundamentals are able to resist the spread of contagion washing over global financial markets."

Along with South Korea and the Philippines, Neumann notes that even some frontier economies, like Vietnam, "have weathered global financial turmoil with apparent ease".

The common link among the success stories is they've got the basics right since Asia's 1997 financial meltdown. They have healthier financial systems, greater transparency, stronger banks, sober national balance sheets, and reasonable current-account deficits.

Malaysia's reckoning, by contrast, is long overdue.

The ringgit is trading near 17-year lows because scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak cares more about staying in power than modernising the country's unproductive economy.

Meanwhile, Thailand's military junta is undoing much of the progress Bangkok made since the late 1990s in strengthening the rule of law. And for all its gripes that Indonesia is being unfairly lumped in with Asia's laggards, President Joko Widodo's administration is rapidly losing the trust of investors.

While there's still time to win it back, Widodo's first 315 days in office have been a case study in timidity, drift and lost opportunities.

Korea credible

Korea, by contrast, is on the "more credible side of the spectrum," says economist Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman.

Even though China's downshift and US interest rate hikes will eventually make a dent, the won was Asia's top performer last week. Its 2.7 percent gain almost matched the drop in the Chinese yuan since August 11.

Meanwhile, Korean bond yields are falling. It turns out that the world's central banks had it right last year when they boosted their Korean debt holdings. In 2014, they made up 45.4 percent of the foreign-held portion of Korea Treasury bonds, up from 41.8 percent a year earlier.

It may be time to start counting Korea as a developed nation, rather than an emerging market. Korea still faces many challenges, not least of which are its rogue family-run conglomerates. But its macroeconomic performance deserves the recognition it's receiving from investors.

The same goes for the Philippines. Since 2010, President Benigno Aquino has steadily improved his nation's debt position (winning investment-grade ratings in the process), attacked graft and drawn in waves of foreign-direct investment.

Last month, reporters asked Philippine central bank governor Amando Tetangco if he's worried about the spectre of economic crisis haunting Asia at the moment.

"There's a herd mentality," he said, "but there'll be differentiation."

So far, he's been proven right. The country formerly derided as the "sick man of Asia" has been standing its ground amid market chaos.

Still risks

Risks abound, of course. While South Korea's economic fundamentals are stable – it's growing at a rate of 2.2 percent with a 3.7 percent jobless rate – its high household debt of $458 billion is a concern.

Manila, for its part, faces an uncertain 2016 election, in which Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the dictator who ravaged the nation in the 1970s and 1980s, may make a bid for the presidency. History has shown that emerging markets are often just one bad leader away from relapsing into chaos.

For now, the relative stability washing over Korea and the Philippines underscores that steady leadership and long-term thinking matter. It also shows that global investors are getting better at identifying those factors in Asia. - Bloomberg / The Sydney Morning Herald

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Philippines preparing Billion Dollars fund for Acquisition of NEW Submarine, Missiles, Ships, radars for AFP Upgrade

Kilo Class Diesel Submarine. Del Rosario said that between 2018 and 2023 the Philippines would buy electric-diesel submarines ($200 - $500 Million USD per unit)and advanced missile systems.

PH ramps up military spending in face of China threat

MANILA - The Philippines plans to ramp up military spending over the next 13 years, earmarking more than $20 billion to modernize its forces in the face of Beijing's maritime ambitions in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), a top Air Force official told Reuters.

Major-General Raul del Rosario, military chief of plans, said the blueprint includes installing radars and sensors, and buying equipment such as submarines, frigates, fighters, surveillance planes and missile systems.

"By the time, we complete this plan, we will have complete coverage of the South China Sea," said del Rosario, a former fighter pilot, showing the military's detailed plan that was approved on Friday.

"We will have 24/7 awareness of what is happening in the disputed area and we'll be able to respond quicker to any contingency in our own exclusive economic zone."

He said the ambitious plan was initiated in 2013, but top brass had only approved overall spending of 998 billion pesos ($22.11 billion) last week.

Del Rosario said 83 billion pesos had been earmarked for the first five years, ₱444 billion pesos for the second five years and ₱471 billion pesos for the last five years.

In 1995, Congress had earmarked ₱364 billion pesos for a similar 15-year plan. Less than one-tenth of that sum was actually spent by 2010.

The modernization program is designed to strengthen Manila's claims in the South China Sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits.

China has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, building artificial islands in areas over which the Philippines and other countries have rival claims. The moves have sparked alarm regionally and in Washington.

SUBMARINES, MISSILES AND SURVEILLANCE PLANES

President Benigno Aquino has promised the military about ₱34 billion pesos this year, which will fund the purchase of two frigates and a twin-engine long range maritime aircraft.

So far, the government has given the military ₱9.4 billion pesos in 2014. This has been used to purchase eight combat utility helicopters and as a downpayment for 12 FA-50 fighter-trainers from South Korea. Two of the aircraft are expected in 2016.

Del Rosario said that between 2018 and 2023 the Philippines would buy electric-diesel submarines and advanced missile systems.

Three aerial surveillance radars with a range of 350 nautical miles will also be installed in Ilocos Norte, Lubang island and Mount Salacot in Palawan, all facing the South China Sea to detect movements in the disputed area.

These will complement the navy's two surface sensors capable of detecting ship activities 200 miles away. Three surveillance planes will also be on constant patrol in the area.

"We do not aim to defeat China," del Rosario said. "But our goal is make any state think twice before attacking. We will make sure anybody attacking us would end up with a bloodied nose." -  ABS-CBN News

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China stock loses $3.2 trillion US Dollars in weeks; Suicide rumor -Economy facing trouble

A stock investor looks up in a brokerage house in Shanghai. Chinese authorities have launched frantic efforts to shore up plunging stock prices following another 5.7 per cent decline in the country's main market index on Friday. Source: AP

Chinese chaos worse than Greece: Chinese stock market loses $3.2 trillion, authorities inject cash

WHILE the world worries about Greece, there’s an even bigger problem closer to home: China.

A stock market crash there has seen $3.2 trillion wiped from the value of Chinese shares in just three weeks, triggering an emergency response from the government and warnings of “monstrous” public disorder.

And the effects for Australia could be serious, affecting our key commodity exports and sparking the beginning of a period of recession-like conditions.

“State-owned newspapers have used their strongest language yet, telling people ‘not to lose their minds’ and ‘not to bury themselves in horror and anxiety’. [Our] positive measures will take time to produce results,” writes IG Markets.

“If China does not find support today, the disorder could be monstrous.”

In an extraordinary move, the People’s Bank of China has begun lending money to investors to buy shares in the flailing market. The Wall Street Journal reports this “liquidity assistance” will be provided to the regulator-owned China Securities Finance Corp, which will lend the money to brokerages, which will in turn lend to investors.

The dramatic intervention marks the first time funds from the central bank have been directed anywhere other than the banks, signaling serious concern from authorities about the crisis.

At the same time, Chinese authorities are putting a halt to any new stock listings. The market regulator announced on Friday it would limit initial public offerings — which disrupt the rest of the market — in an attempt to curb plunging share prices.

While the exact amount of assistance hasn’t been revealed, the WSJ reports no upper limit has been set.

All short-selling — the practice of betting that stocks will fall — has been banned, and Chinese media has rushed to reassure citizens.

Yesterday, shares in big state companies soared in response to the but many others sank as jittery small investors tried to cut their losses, Associated Press reports. The market benchmark Shanghai Composite closed up 2.4 percent but still was down 27 percent from its June 12 peak.

Experts fear it could turn into a full-blown crash introducing even more uncertainty into global markets as Europe teeters on the edge of a potential euro zone exit by Greece, after Sunday’s controversial referendum.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AUSTRALIA?

For Australia, the market crash in China is likely to impact earnings on key exports iron ore and coal, further slashing government revenue, while also putting downward pressure on the Australian dollar.

Jordan Eliseo, chief economist with ABC Bullion, said it was important to remember that the amount of wealth Chinese citizens have tied up in the stock market is relatively minor compared with western investors.

Stocks only make up about 8 per cent of household wealth in China, compared with around 20 per cent in developed nations.

“The market crash there is generating headlines, but it’s not going to have the same impact as a comparable crash would in a developed market,” he said.

“What it means for Australia, though, is it’s very clear there are some serious imbalances in the Chinese economy, and the rate of growth they’ve enjoyed in the past is over. There’s no question our export earnings are going to take another hit.”

Mr Eliseo predicts Australia is likely to experience “recession-like” conditions such as negative wage growth for many years to come. “I believe that’s going to be the new norm,” he said.

CRACKDOWN AS PANIC TRIGGERS ‘SUICIDE’ RUMOURS

Underscoring growing jitters amid the three-week sell-off, police in Beijing detained a man on Sunday for allegedly spreading a rumor online that a person jumped to their death in the city’s financial district due to China’s precarious stock markets.

The 29-year-old man detained was identified by the surname Tian, and is a manager at a technology and science company in Beijing, police said in a post on their official microblog.

Police said Tian’s alleged posting of the rumor took place Friday and called on internet users to obey laws and regulations, not to believe and spread rumors, and to cooperate with police.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Tian allegedly posted the rumors with video clips and screenshots Friday afternoon.

The post, which is said to have gone viral, “provoked emotional responses among stock investors who suffered losses over the past weeks”, Xinhua said.

Xinhua added that a police investigation showed that the video in question had been shot on Friday morning in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu where a man had jumped to his death. Local police there were investigating that case, Xinhua said.

The original post was unavailable Sunday on China’s tightly controlled social media, where authorities are quick to delete controversial material. - Jews News /  News.com.au

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Senator Santiago backs Ombudsman, SC: "Gobenciong case" - Binay should leave Makati City hall

Mayor Junjun Binay vs Senator Miriam Santiago- Politics.com

Ombudsman not liable for acting quickly on Mayor Binay suspension—Santiago

MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and other concerned officials were not liable for immediately implementing the suspension order on Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Wednesday.

Santiago was reacting to a contempt case filed by Binay against the Ombudsman and other officials for defying a temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals on his suspension. It was the Office of the Ombudsman that issued the preventive suspension order on Binay in connection with the allegedly anomalous Makati City Hall 2 carpark building.

But Santiago pointed out that in the 2008 case of Gobenciong v. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court ruled: “The Office of the Ombudsman can, as a matter of statutory empowerment, validly order the immediate execution of a preventive suspension after determining the propriety of the imposition, regardless of the remedy of reconsideration made available under the law to the suspended respondent.”

“Thus, the Ombudsman can order the immediate suspension of a sitting mayor, who is not allowed to plead that he needs time to file a motion for reconsideration,” the senator said in a statement.

Santiago said that in the Gobenciong case, the high tribunal rejected the argument that the sitting official was denied due process of law, just because the suspension was immediately implemented.

“In the Gobenciong case, the Supreme Court said there was no legal basis for the argument that immediate implementation of the preventive suspension would deny due process. In fact, the Supreme Court added that since preventive suspension is not a penalty for an administrative offense, preventive suspension can be imposed without prior hearing,” she said.

The SC, she said, denied the motion to cite the Ombudsman in contempt on the ground that it had “become moot and academic for the preventive suspension had been served.”

Under the Gobenciong ruling, Santiago said the Ombudsman could not be held in indirect contempt because under the Rules of Court there was no “disobedience of or resistance to a lawful writ of a court.”

“A contempt order usually arises according to the Rules of Court for ‘any improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice.’ It is not the case,” she said.

But Santiago also pointed to a 2011 case, Strategic Alliance Development Corp. v. Star Infrastructure Development Corp. where the Supreme Court held: “Although the general rule is to the effect that a writ of preliminary injunction cannot be issued against acts already fait accompli it has been held, however, that consummated acts which are continuing in nature may still be enjoined by the courts.”

She said this “apparent collision” between the 2008 Gobenciong case and the 2011 Strategic Alliance case should be resolved by the Court of Appeals.

One of the petitioners, she said, might also elevate the case on a petition for review on certiorari concerning a question of law to the Supreme Court, which has discretion on whether to pass upon the petition. - INQUIRER

 

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Mayor Duterte got 34% Approval Rating for Philippine Presidential race in 2016

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Pic: AP

Southern Philippines Mayor Duterte emerges as presidential prospect

If the presidential elections were to be held solely in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, Davao City’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte would be the runaway winner.

According to the Pulse Asia survey, Duterte will win 34 percent of the Mindanao votes with Vice President Binay coming in second with 22 percent if the elections were held today.

Estrada, who previously lorded the Mindanao votes, was down to 18 percent while Grace Poe has 11.

The Asia Pulse survey was conducted on March 1-7.

Duterte has also inched up in the nationwide presidential survey with 12 percent, good enough for 3rd and 4th – tied with Estrada. That is just after less than 2 months of low-profile exposure using federalism as platform.

It is the first time Duterte figured prominently in a major survey.

Binay’s lead has improved from 26 percent in November 2014– 29 percent.

Poe is 2nd in voting preference with 14 percent.

This is a significant leap for Duterte who only in December was not even in the list of possible presidential candidates for 2016.

The Davao City mayor, who will turn 70 on March 28, however, is lagging far behind in the National Capital Region and the rest of Luzon, with only 7 and 4 percent voting preference respectively.

He was likewise only a distant 4th in Visayas with 9 per cent voter preference.

Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines.

Nobody from Mindanao has ever made it to Malacañang.

The closest was the late Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez who hailed from Misamis Oriental. Pelaez was VP to Ferdinand Marcos from 1961 to 1965.

Duterte is neck and neck with Binay over voter preference among the ABC class, but Binay continues to maintain his grip among D and E voters.

The vice president is likewise still leading the pack in NCR, Luzon and Visayas.

Maverick

Duterte is seen as a political maverick although he is officially a member of the PDP-Laban, a Mindanao-grown political party that is also the former political party of Binay.

The controversial Davao City mayor has been courted by all previous post-Cory Aquino Philippine presidents either as a cabinet member or part of the administration’s senatorial slate. The pistol-packing Duterte however politely declined all overtures saying he is not cut for a national position. Last year, he even threatened to shoot those who are egging him to run for president.

He once berated the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for spiriting out from the hospital an American who was injured in a bomb blast inside his rented hotel room in Davao City.

At the height of national indignation over the execution of Filipina overseas contract worker Flor Contemplacion, he led protesters in Davao City by burning the Singaporean flag.

Duterte likewise threatened to declare a revolutionary government if only to solve corruption in the country.

Listening tour

Early this year, he was prevailed to soften his stand against running for the presidency.

He used federalism as a platform for a nationwide listening tour which he started only this year.

He has been invited in Bicol, Pangasinan, Baguio, Manila, Iloilo and Leyte where he was mobbed by supporters and the media.

While he has not officially declared his intention to seek the presidency, a source said a survey that will land him no lower that fourth and in double digit approval will change his mind.

Mindanaoan in the senate

Meanwhile, at least three other Mindanaoans are prominently figuring in the same Pulse Asia survey.

Former Senator Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon is ranked 7th in the survey while Pacquiao and incumbent Senator Teofisto Guingona III are battling it out for the 11-17th place.

Guingona is also from Bukidnon while Pacquiao, who is now in the US training for his May 2 fight, is a member of the House of Representative representing the lone district of Sarangani.

Pacquiao is expected to throw his hat into the 2016 senatorial race. - Asian Correspondent