Sin tax doomed with high rates

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 19, 2012 |

 

Contending parties on the ‘sin’ tax proposal have been asked to look for a middle ground so that the Executive won’t ask Congress for a new bill once the measure fails to meet its P60-billion additional revenue target.
That was the proposal made by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who said the government can optimize the tax gains with a rate that would not encourage smuggling and diminish consumption.
He warned that imposing very high taxes on liquor and cigarettes will defeat the government’s twin goals of raising P60 billion in additional funds for health care and discouraging Filipinos from drinking and smoking.
He told Finance officials that pushing for a tax hike of up to 1,000 percent for alcohol and tobacco products is unrealistic because exceedingly high tax rates come with unavoidable costs.
“One of these is a decline in revenue collections from cigarettes and liquor because a drop in consumption will result in high taxes and, subsequently, high prices,” said Enrile.
While he agrees with Finance officials and health advocates that there is an urgent need to eradicate diseases from smoking and drinking, Enrile said the economics should also be factored in.
Tobacco farmers and manufacturers said there are jobs and livelihood opportunities that will be lost if the tax rate is increased unreasonably.
Smuggling will also prosper, Enrile said, noting that smuggled goods in the black market will fill the void if low-income consumers are left with no affordable choices.
He had cautioned the Finance officials that the Philippine Navy or even the entire Armed Forces would not be able to prevent smuggling, particularly in the country’s highly porous entry points in the South.
Anti-tobacco groups, however, decried the tobacco industry attempts to improve their image through “social responsibility projects” and partnerships with NGOs to increase legitimacy and improve public perception.
Romeo Marcaida, head of the Patient Navigation Program of the Philippine Cancer Society, said smoking is not just the leading cause of preventable death world-wide – it is the most preventable cause of cancer around the world.
Health Undercretary Ted Herbosa said the cost of treating the top four killers of Filipinos, all smoking related, amounts to P188 billion.
But farmer leader Benedict Montero said the sin tax hike will displace hundreds of thousands of jobs, and forego revenues that would have financed delivery of public health care services.(END)

 

Survey: JV is top newbie senatorial candidate

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 18, 2012 |

 

SAN Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito, son of former President Joseph Estrada, is the most popular first-time candidate for the Senate, according to the survey pollster Pulse Asia conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7.
The 42-year-old Ejercito actually tied for third rank with incumbent Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who also got a survey respondent preference of 49.9 percent, behind survey topnotcher, re-electionist Sen. Loren Legarda (67.3 percent) and re-electionist Sen. Francis Escudero (61.2 percent).
But Ejercito was the highest-ranking among the newbie senatorial candidates, followed by Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. (who was at fourth with 47.4 percent), Aurora Rep. Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (10th at 35.9 percent), former congresswoman Cynthia Villar (11th at 32.7 percent) and Ma. Lourdes “Nancy” Binay (12th at 27.4 percent).
At fifth to 9th were re-electonist Senators Antonio Trillanes IV (41.2 percent); Gregorio Honasan II (40.6 percent); and, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (39.2 percent) and former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (37.4 percent).
Asked about the survey results, Legarda said it inspires her more to work even harder for the people.
“I thank God and I thank the Filipino people. The result of the recent Pulse Asia Survey inspires me to work harder and do more especially for the poor and needy because people appreciate the work that I am doing,” Legarda said.
She stressed that with several more months before the 2013 elections, she will continue championing environment protection, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, women’s and children’s rights, better opportunities for the poor through viable rural livelihoods and protecting the welfare of Filipino workers.
“We should never be complacent, we must always work hard for the very people who have given us the chance to serve them,” said Legarda who admitted that these numbers are flexible, and not permanent.
“One or two, you are still a senator. One or twelve, you’re still a senator. But I can’t deny that I feel happy if you know that the people appreciate what you’re doing, and they feel the job you’re doing. I will work harder,” she said.
Legarda maintains she is running under the Nationalist People’s Coalition of which she has been a member since 2007 and she intends to announce on Monday if she will be a guest candidate either for the United Nationalist Alliance or the ruling Liberal Party. (END)

 

Santiago gets even, snubs Senate sessions

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 18, 2012 |

But she will be at CA hearing to block Roxas’ confirmation'

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago began a boycott of the Senate sessions Monday to register her displeasure at her colleagues, who snubbed a hearing she called Friday to investigate the controversies surrounding resigned Interior undersecretary Rico Puno, a close associate of President Benigno Aquino III.
Santiago, a member of the Commission on Appointments, had also threatened to block the confirmation of Cabinet members who stayed away from the hearing, including incoming Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, triggering a response from the President Monday.
“That is up to her. But I hope there will be due process where there are rules and regulations that have to be followed as well by members of the legislative branch,” Mr. Aquino said in an interview in Lucena City.
He said Santiago, a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments, should have a basis for using her veto on Roxas, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.
Mr. Aquino insisted that the Cabinet officials did not snub the hearing but merely wanted to be informed of the scope of questions they would have to answer.
“It is not right [to say] that we did not cooperate. I think the record will show that we have always cooperated (with the legislative branch),” Mr. Aquino said.
“All that we are saying is that there is a provision under Article VI of the Constitution, Section 22, that if you call the alter ego of the President, the Executive branch has the right to know what questions will be asked so that are officials come prepared instead of saying ‘I don’t know’ when they are asked as resource persons,” the President said.
He also expressed confidence that Roxas would be able to hurdle the confirmation hearings despite Santiago’s threat to invoke Section 20 of the commission’s rules that allows any member to effectively veto a nominee.
In a statement issued at noon, Santiago said she would skip the remaining three days for the week’s session before Congress goes on recess on Sept. 22. When the session started at 3 p.m., Santiago was a no-show.
But she said she would check to see if a confirmation hearing was scheduled Wednesday so she could attend the session to block Roxas’ confirmation.
“If a Cabinet member who snubs my hearing is presented for confirmation this Wednesday, I will attend the confirmation hearing to cast a veto, to fulfill my promise,” Santiago said.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said Roxas was scheduled to appear before the commission Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., and acknowledged that they could do nothing about Santiago’s veto.
“If she invokes Section 20, which is the prerogative of any CA member, then let the cards fall where they will,” he said.
“If the government function is disrupted in the Department of Interior and Local Government, then let it be faulted to whoever is responsible.”
Sotto also denied he snubbed Santiago’s hearing and noted that it went ahead despite questions about proper jurisdiction because there was a quorum, even with only two senators present. Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Aquilino Pimentel III were the only senators who attended Friday’s hearing.
Sotto also shrugged off Santiago’s boycott, saying most sessions did not have 100 percent attendance.
“The absence of one or two is very common. What is important is that a senator attends to the committee job. We are tied to the committee work,” he said.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile earlier said he would try to speak to Santiago about her veto plan.
“I will talk to her. Well, if she’s ready to talk to me, I am always ready to talk to any member of the Senate,” he said.
Enrile also said there was no plan among the senators to boycott Friday’s hearing.
“It’s simply that there were conflicts of schedule,” he said, adding that if Santiago wished to boycott the Senate sessions, that was her prerogative.
“We are independent republics,” Enrile said.
Senator Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, dismissed Santiago’s threat, saying the President could simply issue an interim appointment to Roxas once Congress is in recess.
“And Secretary Roxas can immediately do his job at the DILG after the interim appointment,” he said. (END)

 

Herbal drugs: In greens, there’s gold

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on July 15, 2012 |

THE country’s herbal medicine market has grown into a P3-billion industry, and the figure is increasing. Take it from the expert, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former Health secretary and now an advocate of herbal medicine.
The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of the world population uses herbal medicines for some aspect of health care.
“So there is massive public acceptance,” Galvez Tan said. “In the Philippines alone, Lagundi is working. The market is thriving. Lagundi even surpassed the No. 1 cough syrup; the same thing with ampalaya. Lagundi has reached sales of P800 million, now nearing P1 billion; ampalaya, P600 If million; and sambong, P300 million.:
“It won’t reach the present time if it (herbal medicine) was not effective,” said Galvez Tan, who had an enviable record of having been involved in community work in far-flung doctorless rural, areas as well as in national and international health planning and programming. He is also an advocate of clinical practices that combine Western medicine and Asian and Filipino traditional medicine.
“If indeed the herbal business is booming, how come there are only ten firms approved by the Health department for use.? asked Galvez Tan.
More acceptable
Galvez Tan said that the herbal medicine industry would be more acceptable if government would enable the creation of law, a governing body like an institute, a board or authority to address all concerns on medicinal plants. “This will amount to a big leap for the industry which pales in comparison to the P100 billion pharmaceutical industry in the country,” he said.
“I wish that government would utilize our medicinal plants for commercial purposes and make money out of it. There should also be for instance, the National Lagundi Board or the Institute for Sambong or Institute for Ampalaya,” said Galvez Tan, author of eight books, including Fruits and Vegetables with Medicinal Properties published in 1983 and Medicinal Fruits & Vegetables published in 1983 and 2008, respectively.
He said the government should give additional funding to the Department of Science and Technology for research on medicinal plants, while noting that it takes P20 million to do research work on a particular medicinal plant.
He said that the government pays little attention to the billion-peso herbal medicine industry. He lamented that all the other DOH secretaries who came after him and even former Senator Juan Flavier did not even bother to add to the existing number of the herbal medicines approved by the department.
“When you look at the global market, the industry is really huge, up to $60 billion, but in the Philippines, the industry is still weak,” Galvez Tan said.
The Philippines has a rich natural resources, and has been documented to cultivate 1,500 medicinal plants in the country, making it a repository of proven and potential medicinal plants and herbs.
But compared to other countries, Galvez Tan said the Philippines has yet to fully exploit its natural resources of medicinal plants for business, commercial and scientific purposes.
He said that out of 1,500 medicinal plants found in the country, around 240 have been studied, and 10 underwent full-scale studies. To this day, the number of medicinal plants approved by the DOH remained at ten.
“That a was very long time ago, and we still have 10. It was in 1993 when we launched the “10 Halamang Gamot,” said Galvez Tan, who was then a Health undersecretary. He became secretary in 1995.
The 10 herbal medicines endorsed by DOH through its “Traditional Health Program” are Lagundi (Vitex negundo), anti-cough and anti-asthma; Sambong (Blumea balsamifera), excretion of kidney stones; Ampalaya (Momordica charantia), anti-diabetic; Akalpuko (Cassia alata), anti-fungi; Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), analgesis; Garlic (Allium sativum), anti-cholesterol; Tiyaang Gubat (Ehretia microphulla Lam.), anti-diarrhea; Bayabas (Psidium guajava), antiseptic; Niyog-niyogan (Quisqualis indica L.), intestinal parasites and Ulasimang Bato|Pansit-Pansitan (Peperomia pellucid), anti-gout.
Galvez Tan said he has listed 10 more plants which can be added to the current number of medicinal plants approved by the DOH, namely banaba, balbas pusa, saluyot, malunggay, coconut oil, siling labuyo leaves, camote leaves, colitis or uray and luyang dilaw.
“We could do a lot more. I’m waiting for the day when the government, a high official, will carry the banner for medicinal plants. We want wealth creation. We want the Philippines to move out of poverty. We have one of the highest poverty rate. We should no longer look for other exotic poverty alleviation.”
Key players
Still, Galvez Tan said he never loses hope that the herbal medicine industry will get the attention of President Simeon Benigno Aquino III, Health Secretary Enrique Ona, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo, and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.
“These are the key players. Health can also do so much but you need the Agriculture (department), and even the Department of Trade and Industry.”
The agriculture department, Galvez Tan said, can support the use of herbal medicines, by asking tobacco farmers to switch to planting medicinal plants instead of tobacco, which is harmful to health.
He stresses, though, that government officials must exercise political will if it wants to fully develop the herbal medicine industry.
Galvez Tan commended former Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap for endorsing malunggay as both nutritious and medicinal, but he still lamented that the government has not created a “body” to support and promote its use.
He acknowledged that Filipino and multinational pharmaceutical firms engaged in manufacturing and promoting herbal medicines.
Galvez Tan, who has a masteral degree in public health with Letter of Excellence at the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium in 1984, said multinationals are now venturing into the use of natural medicine.
Amid all these developments, Galvez Tan, who also teaches at the UP College of Medicine, said the industry is confronted with the lack of supply of raw materials.
Lagundi didn’t have a hard time gaining acceptability commercially because there were thousands of hectares planted to lagundi.
Ampalaya, a popular vegetable used for Filipino dishes, is not available commercially as a raw material for medicine because the country uses it for food, according to Galvez Tan. Ampalaya is being sourced from China, India and Vietnam, rather than from the Philippines. (End)

 

Flood victims’ litany of woes

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 16, 2012 |

 

Many victims of last month’s flooding in Bulacan have only their shirts on their backs as their “prized possession.”
With their clothes soaked in mud, they have painstakingly begun to rebuild and carry on with their lives.
Street sweeper Marilou Trinidad, 65, has a sad story to tell during an interview with Senator Bongbong Marcos who gave gifts to mark his 55th birthday anniversary.
Trinidad says that until now, she has been ‘picking up the pieces from the fragments ‘left by habagat’s intense rain and severe flooding.
“We are still removing mud from our clothes… from our pillows. We are still fixing everything, the house. The roof leaks every time it rains,” related Trinidad.
After losing everything to the flood, Aling Malou said she does not know where to begin.
“We have no money to repair the house or buy new clothes. What we’re getting from sweeping the streets are just enough to buy food,” said Aling Malou whose husband, Manuel, 58, also cleans the streets for a living.
She was also saddened from losing a small television set and the DVD, which they were able to buy from long years of sweeping dirt.
“Iyon na nga lang ang libangan naming mag-asawa, nawala pa,” lamented Aling Malou who said their house literally went under water.
Fifty-year old Yolanda Francisco, another streetsweeper, shared the sentiments of Trinidad, her neighbor in Brgy. Banga.
While their house has a second floor, Francisco said she and her husband sleep on the ground floor together with their other children and their own families. Actually, she said they have seven children who also stay with them despite being married.
All five families were “packed like sardines” in the Francisco household in Sitio Suloc, Brgy. Banga.
She recalled being rousing from sleep by the floods. “I woke up already soaked in water. The floodwater immediately mounted until it reached the second floor,” Trinidad said.
She, her husband and the rest of the family sought refuge to a nearby vacant building together with their neighbors.
Nelia Nasareta, 37, told MST Sunday, that you can’t really think of saving your valuables when disaster strikes.
“Your first instinct is to run for your life. And that’s what we did. We gathered our three children and went to higher ground. We were brought to the Word of Truth building where we stayed until the water subsided a week later.
After returning home, there were only clothes left, and a few pieces of furnitures.
Teresita Aquino, 76, a widow, remembered her apo rushed to her to join others in fleeing to the evacuation center when the waters suddenly grew high. “Lampas tao na,” she said.
When they went to the street, she saw the over-flowing flood and the rush of mud.
“Mga damit na lang ang napakinabangan namin. Nilabhan na lang. Sira lahat,” she said.
Julie Belo, 51, said only their clothes were left useful after the neck-deep water inside their house.
Trinidad, Francisco, Aquino and Belo belong to the 1,000 beneficiaries of first-even gift-giving activity of Marcos on his birthday, held at the gymnasium of Banga Elementary School in Brgy. Banga.
Cecilio Contreras, a member of the Barangay Justice in Brgy. Banga, told MST the beneficiaries were chosen from among the victims of the recent ‘habagat’. He said they were given bags of goods consisting of rice, grocery items, an unused blanket and mat.
Marcos admitted it was the first-time he celebrated his birthday giving gifts to the needy.
“I thought of gift-giving to celebrate my birthday. So I asked them who will be my beneficiaries. And I was informed there were areas where some of the flood victims haven’t returned to their homes yet. So I decided to see them,” said Marcos.
At his age, the only son and namesake of the late president said he could no longer ask for more with all the blessings in his life.
People at the school gymnasium who lined up to get a bag of goods were delighted to see the young Marcos. As majority of them were still reeling from the devastation inflicted by the monsoon rains, the sight of ‘donations’ gave them hope. (END)

 

Big money lobby vs sin tax bill

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 17, 2012 |

Tobacco companies have set aside the “biggest lobby money” against the sin tax bill, which could result in watered-down version of the measure that proposed to increase taxes on cigarettes by 700 percent, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said on Sunday.
He said the bill, which was slashed in the House of Representatives from projected total revenues of P128.63 billion by 2016 to only P41.51 billion, is in danger of being cut down some more in the Senate where it is still pending.
“Our fear is a watered down bill. We want the original version because that is what we need. This money could go a long way to finance the Aquino administration’s universal health care program and improve health services in the country,” Ona said.
Health officials believe the tax hike will reduce the consumption of tobacco, which is among the major cause of non-communicable diseases. Smokers, especially the youth, will be dissuaded from smoking because of its high cost.
The Philippines has the most number of adult and youth smokers with ages ranging from 13 to 15 years old in Southeast Asia. Cigarette prices in the Philippines are the second lowest in the region next to Cambodia.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who hails from the tobacco producing provinces in the north, said the bill would prejudice the livelihood of more than two million workers in the tobacco industry.
He said the rise in prices of cigarettes will not stop people from smoking because they will just look for cheaper brand or smuggled cigarettes.
Fortunato Yabut, president of the Consumer group Ang Masa Bansa, claimed the high taxes would eventually be absorbed by the consumers and said the government would be imposing the high taxes without consideration of its impact on cigarette products.
“It is unfortunate that the government is pushing to increase taxes on cigarettes without looking at the welfare of the consumers. Are they even aware that the proposed 700 percent tax increase on low priced cigarettes will be absorbed by us?” Yabut said.
He said non-government organizations, doctors, foreign organizations, the health and finance department were pushing for approval of the bill, and he asked: “Why is it easy for these people to agree on the tax increase? It’s simple because non-smokers do not have to pay for it.”
“Our government officials should know that we, the consumers, are angry with the proposed tax increases on cigarette products. We strongly oppose this measure because it is excessive and unjust. If you want us to quit smoking, then you should just ban the product,” Yabut said.
He added: “For as long as cigarettes are legitimate products and smoking is still legal, then you cannot overtaxed cigarettes. Every Filipino in this country, rich or poor, has the right to smoke.”
Sen. Ralph Recto, chairman of the ways and means committee, which is conducting public hearings on the issue, said an increase is imminent but it will be “based on realistic assumptions to generate the right revenues for the health sector.”(END)

 

Miriam gets back at PNoy

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 17, 2012 |

 

 

Vows to veto confirmation of Roxas, other no-shows
Senator Miriam Santiago on Sunday threatened to block the confirmation of incoming Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and other Cabinet members who snubbed a hearing she called Friday to look into allegations of corruption in the dealings of resigned Interior undersecretary Rico Puno, a close friend of President Benigno Aquino III.
“All the Cabinet members whom I gave invitation—since I am a member of the Commission on Appointments—I will veto them,” said Santiago in an interview over radio dzBB.
Aside from Roxas, those who skipped Santiago’s hearing were Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.
Of the four, only Ochoa has been confirmed by the CA.
Santiago said she could invoke Section 20 of the commission’s rules to singlehandedly block the confirmation of any presidential appointee.
“The only way they can stop me is by having me shot, or having me shipped off to the ICC,” she said, referring to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands to which she has been assigned.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said in a separate radio interview that Santiago was sending a message to Malacañang.
On Friday, Santiago blasted the President for preventing his Cabinet members from testifying before her committee.
She also reiterated her accusation that some senators stayed away from the hearing on orders from Malacanang.
But Lacson denied the charge, saying a call from the Palace would have been an insult. Senator Gregorio Honasan] had a schedule in Iloilo,” Lacson said.
Lacson added that even if he were in the city, he would have skipped the hearing because there were questions about jurisdiction that might be challenged before the Supreme Court.
Lacson, who is on his last term as senator, also denied Santiago’s accusation that he was looking for a job in the government.(END)

 

Senate may go beyond mandate in Puno probe

 

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 13, 2012 | 12:01am

 

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warned his colleagues Wednesday that they could be overstepping their authority in conducting a hearing to evaluate the performance of resigned Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno.
“We might be treading in the domain of the presidency since the Executive department is under the President,” Enrile said, referring to a hearing called by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who promised to rake Puno over the coals over allegations of irregularities in several gun contracts that he approved.
Puno, a close associate and shooting buddy of President Benigno Aquino III, resigned Tuesday in the wake of several controversies, including accusations that he tried to break into the condominium unit of the late Secretary Jesse Robredo to take documents related to an investigation of gun deals Puno had approved.
The President later said Puno was acting on his orders.
Enrile on Wednesday said the President had control and supervision over all the departments, and the Senate committee on rules should study if any committee may call a hearing to evaluate an Executive office.
Enrile also said the President had the right to appoint Puno to another position.
“The entire bureaucracy is subject to his supervision and control. Don’t the people understand that? He can assign any job to anybody, move people around in the government service except for those covered by security of tenure,” he said.
Without naming names, Enrile also said people who were attacking the President through Puno were cowards.
He added that he did not think Puno had committed any crime.
Puno quit three days before he was scheduled to appear before Santiago’s committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes and laws.
Santiago said the probe would look into the extensive power that the President granted Puno, including exclusive control over the Philippine National Police, which she said was contrary to the Administrative Code.
But Enrile said Executive department assignments were wholly at the discretion of the President.
“That’s the problem of the President. Why interfere in the delineation of powers of the secretary and undersecretary? That’s the prerogative of the President as Chief Executive Officer of the land,” he said.
In a press forum earlier this week, Enrile said there was nothing irregular in Puno’s attempt to secure the papers of Robredo, who died in a plane crash on Aug. 18. (END)

 

Ghost pensioners gyp veterans office of P4.2b

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 13, 2012 |

 

 

The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office paid at least P4.2 billion a year for several years to “ghost” pensioners, but it would have lost more money if it hadn’t purged its roster of pensioners, Senator Franklin Drilon said Wednesday.
He said the government used to earmark P15 billion a year to pay the pensions of its war veterans, but that went down to P10.59 billion in 2010 after the Veterans Office cleaned up its roster of fake pensioners and those who had died. “The difference of about P4.2 billion saved on a yearly basis is made possible with the effort of PVAO to flesh out the fraudulent claims. Meaning, before the reforms, this P4.2 billion would be paid to non-existing veterans or fictitious claimants,” Drilon said.
“This has been corrected by shifting to the bank system, by having the pension paid through the banks instead of using the old system where pensioners get their benefits through checks and the postal service.”
Drilon made his statement even as the Budget Department said it would be pressing criminal charges against the people behind the Education Department’s failure to remit its employees’ premiums to the Government Service Insurance System.
In a statement, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said President Benigno Aquino III had ordered the Education Department to sue the people who did not remit P6.92 billion in premiums to the pension fund from July 1997 up to this year.
“President Aquino has directed us to work closely with the GSIS and [the Education Department] to restore the full GSIS benefits of all affected [Education Department] personnel,” Abad said.
On Tuesday, the Budget Department, the Education Department and the GSIS signed a deal whereby the Budget Department committed to shoulder the unremitted GSIS benefits of 784,602 Education Department workers.
The GSIS will condone P14.04 billion in interest due the amount and grant a 5-percent discount on the principal amount.
At Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the proposed P120.32-budget of the Defense Department for 2013, Veterans Affairs Administrator Ernesto Carolina said that, by simply disbursing the veterans’ pensions from the postal system to the banking system, the government saved around P4.2 billion.(END)

 

Suicide rate is up worldwide

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 14, 2012 |

 

The suicide rate among Filipinos has gone up in the last 21 years, with the majority of cases involving young people aged 24 years and below, records from the National Statistics Office show.
The suicide rate from 1984 to 2005 increased from 0.46 to seven out of every 200,000 men. On the other hand, it jumped from 0.24 to two for every 200,000 women.
The statistics showed the increasing suicide rate in the Philippines even as the World Health Organization, alarmed by the more than 600 suicides a day or about 800,000 suicides worldwide each year, called on its member-states in the Western Pacific Region, including the Philippines, to intensify their efforts to reduce the number of people killing themselves.
The studies conducted by Dinah Nadera, a psychiatrist and an associate professor of the UP Open University, who is working on suicide prevention strategies, showed that in most instances, a person who committed suicide did so during summer or in the morning when all family members had left for work or school, leaving the house empty.
“This is the time when people usually leave the house and go to work and this person who wants to die goes back when no one is home and carries out the suicide act when there is no one there,” she said.
A study of around 300 cases collected from the records of hospitals and the police in 2008 and 2009 showed that the majority of suicides were carried out at home during summer, particularly during the Lenten Season when Catholics observed fasting, prayer and penitence.
“Of course, this is based on findings from selected cases. We are not saying that this is the general trend for suicide and attempted suicide,” Nadera said.
The study also showed that hanging ranked No. 1 as the method for committing suicide, followed by strangulation and suffocation.
Those who tried to kill themselves but survived, the method used was self-poisoning, and mainly the ingestion of silver cleaner. The others exposed themselves to unspecified chemicals and noxious substances.
Nadera said the causes for suicide were depression, low income and unemployment, and medical conditions such as heart disease and cancer.
WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Shin Young-soo says effective treatments exist, and people at risk–those with mental disorders and substance-abuse problems–should receive professional attention and follow-ups.
“Every year, about 800,000 people die by their own hand,” Shin said.
“About 225,000 of these deaths–or more than a quarter of the worldwide total–occur in the Western Pacific Region.” (END)

 

Enrile sees church going all out to defeat RH bill

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 13, 2012 |

 

The Catholic Church will try to use its connections, influence and all other means in its aim to defeat the controversial Reproductive Health if they could defeat it, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Wednesday.
But Enrile said he was not aware if the Catholic Church would come out with a unified stand against the proposed measure.
“It’s well known that the Catholic Church is against that version of the RH bill,” said Enrile who is also against the measure.
“If I were in their place, with the size of the Catholic Church, they can make themselves as a group especially in our political exercises.”
But Enrile stressed that he respected the opinion of the proponents of the RH bill, who are currently amending some of its provisions at the committee level.
“We are in the period for the committee which sponsored the measure to propose what it considers essential amendments,” Enrile said.
After the close of the period of committee amendment, Enrile said, the members of a legislative assembly could not be stopped to propose amendments they considered important to refine the bill or protect the interest of the country.
“When we come to that point when the period of amendments is to be introduced, who knows, there are 23 senators, including the co-sponsors of the measure and the people who are probably inclined to support the bill, who will have their own amendments,” Enrile said.
He said the question on the ‘beginning of life’ could be a basic question during the period of amendments.
“There is a debate even on this. According to some, it should be at fertilization, when the spermatozoa of the male fertilize the ova of the female, so life begins. The life has the time to implant itself, and you start already the aging process from then on,” Enrile said.
In strongly objecting to the RH bill, Enrile said, he was talking about the totality of the interest of the nation.
He cited the need to draw a lesson from other countries that “have experienced this already or experimented on this.”
“There are other countries. That is the purpose why, after the speech of Senate Majority Vicente Sotto III, I told him that I would like to ask just two questions about the experiences of other countries that went ahead of us to adopt this kind of policy and find out what is the good side of this process, and what is the bad side.
“It cannot always be the good side. There must be some bad side of this process, and if I have this correct, it is being felt by countries that have undergone this policy, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, France, Spain, Russian, the European countries and many others. What is the impact of this? What is the impact of this policy on countries that did not adopt it?”
Enrile said the essential things that must be addressed were the fertility rate of Filipino women because of poverty in this country, and the weakness of the government to provide for education and for the creation of jobs.
“I say this because this is the one that I encountered in life. To break through the barrier of ignorance and poverty. I am not talking from theory. I am talking from experience,” Enrile said.
“We are not alone in this planet. There are others. We do not live in an ideal world where nobody is going to harm us. We have experienced already being harmed. We have been colonized several times. We have been invaded by our neighbors here in Asia.”(END)

 

Jobless women on the rise

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 13, 2012 |  

The unemployment rate among women in the country has been going up, and this prompted a lawmaker to call for more gender-responsive development priorities that should be reflected in the 2013 budget.
A Social Weather Stations survey said that last May, the percentage of unemployed women was 36.4% or 6.5 million, higher than the percentage of unemployed men at 18.9% or 4.4 million.
Taking into account the abilities unique among genders, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Commission on Women should begin addressing this situation, Senator Loren Legarda said.
Priority support should be given to industries that women frequent, such as textiles, crafts, farming, and food-processing and helping women start their own businesses and cooperatives, she said.
Apropriate training should focus sectors that build women’s opportunities such as telecommunications, tourism, leisure services, and traditionally male-dominated jobs, she said.(END)

 

Vacancies in court piling up

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012 |

The Judicial and Bar Council does not need a re-tooling of the process to fill the vacancies in court, Senator Francis Pangilinan, former ex-oficio member of the council, said on Tuesday.
All the JBC needs to do is to look at the process adopted by the council under the then-chief justice Artemio Panganiban who was able to reduce the vacancies from 32% to 16%, Pangilinan said.
The lawmaker was reacting to a call made by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for a review of the judicial process to reduce the backlog of vacancies. The current vacancy rate is now back to 25 percent.
The Panganiban council embarked on “aggressive recruitment effort and an even more aggressive interview process so that all vacancies had the necessary list of nominees submitted to Malacanang and that there were no backlog of nominations,” the senator said.
Pangilinan said that the process regressed under succeeding chief justices, causing the vacancy rate to balloon to “unacceptable levels.”
“The workshop should review the minutes of previous JBC meetings held during CJ Panganiban’s time,” he said.
“Here they will discover that at one point the JBC interviewed up to 30 applicants daily for a period of four months, thereby speeding up the nomination process tremendously,” he said.
The target should be to reduce the vacancy rate to a single digit in a year’s time, he said. “This will require an aggressive recruitment effort where the JBC goes to the provinces to urge lawyers to take on the challenge of public service.” (END)

 

Drilon takes a dig at spooks

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012 |

 

 

Ghosts roam in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, remarked Senator Franklin Drilon while holding a public hearing.
“In ARMM, there are a lot of ghosts– ghost employees, ghost teachers, ghost students, ghost internally displaced persons, ghost voters, ghost contractors, ghost gasoline stations, and many more,” said Drilon, chair of the senate finance committee.
In talking about the haunted place, he was referring to fictitious and non-existing persons and transactions which were used to cover up for various anomalies in the region.
“All of these contributed to the corruptions in the past which continue to haunt people in the ARMM,” said Drilon in finance committee’s hearing on the ARMM proposed P13.99 billion budget for 2013.
He cited the P1.6 billion unpaid premium payments, including interests and penalties, to the different insurance agencies particularly to the Government Service Insurance System.
These payments were deducted from the salaries of the ARMM employees, which the GSIS claimed were not remitted to them from 2001 to 2010, he noted.
“We must emphasize the deficiencies in premium contributions are the major source of continuing frustration and disappointment among government personnel including the thousands of teachers,” said Drilon.
Thousands of teachers sometime could not avail of their GSIS benefits like housing and salary loans because the premiums were collected, but not remitted to the GSIS based on the agency’s record, he said.
During the same senate hearing, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman disclosed numerous irregularities in the region.
Drilon said his committee and the Senate Blue Ribbon chaired by Senator Teofisto Guingona III will conduct an investigation on where these funds went.
“We will look into this to finally address the plight being faced by the thousands of government personnel in the ARMM,” he said.
“We have confidence in the leadership of Hataman. The OIC governor is our new ghost buster,” said Drilon.
“We are pleased that under the leadership of Governor Hataman, these ghosts are starting to vanish and the corruption is being firmly addressed.” (END)

 

Skewed tax rate opposed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 11, 2012 | 

SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday vowed to block the “distorted nature” of the cigarette tax increase being pushed by the House of Representatives and the government’s finance sector.
Enrile however clarified that he is not against measures to generate additional revenues for the government, but said he cannot allow unreasonable and unjust taxation.
“I am in favor of increasing taxes, but it must be up to a reasonable level to be determined by us,” he told newsmen at the regular “Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel.” The government proposed to increase by 700 percent the tax on low-priced cigarette.
The lawmaker said taxes must be equitable. “We can’t tax the poor similar to the rich. Their capacity to pay is so different,” he said. “So, let’s study and come up with reasonable measure that will not shock the market, and the economy.”
Enrile said he had discussed this matter with Senator Ralph Recto, chairman of the senate committee on way and means who’s conducting public hearing on the proposed measure to re-structure excise tax on the so-called “sin products.”
“He (Recto) said he is trying to craft a tax measure that will be fair to the government, to the people and to those that raise the golden egg,” he said.
Apart from the planned tax hike, health issues have also muddled the bill on cigarettes.
While health advocates have blamed smoking as the No. 1 cause of lung cancer deaths in the country, Dr. Tony Dans of the UP College of Medicine told senators that 60% of lung cancer cases are caused by air pollution.
While smoking is a major cause of lung cancer, he said it is air pollution which “should be causing about 60% of the lung cancer” cases. (END)

 

Gazmin woes: All plans but lack funds to buy arms

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012 |

The Defense Department on Tuesday said a lack of funds was stopping it from procuring weapons such as warships and fighter planes from Italy, France, South Korea and the United Kingdom that would boost the Philippines’ ability to guard and defend its territory.
Interviewed after the Senate finance committee hearing on the department’s proposed budget, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the country needed fighter jets and missile-firing gunboats, but the problem was “we don’t have the funds to buy them.”
He said there were ongoing negotiations for the procurement of a warship from Italy and they were “short of signing the contract,” while the purchase of fighter jets remained “on the drawing board.”
Gazmin and the other military officials present during the budget hearing, however, did not say how much money they needed to buy such weapons and equipment.
Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate’s finance committee, said the Defense Department needed at least P75 billion in the next five years to upgrade and modernize the Armed Forces and to build a credible defense capability.
Gazmin said that, based on Drilon’s amount, his department should be able to secure an annual budget of P15 billion from the General Appropriations Act.
But Drilon said the Defense Department might face a budget-related problem since the GAA may not be able to provide in full the P75 billion to boost the Armed Forces’ defense capability.
Only P5 billion has been earmarked for the military’s modernization for 2013, while the other P10 billion is lodged under the “unprogrammed” fund item in the budget, and which could only be released if funds were available.
“If there is enough fiscal space, that can be funded, but if not, we have to look for other means to fund this equally important endeavor,” Drilon said.
“It’s principally a question of where to source these funds because the budget would have limitations on the resources of funds and our deficit level.”
Drilon said the Budget Department could get the funds from realignment of items that might not be used in 2012. He challenged the Defense Department to “think out of the box” to find out where to get the money.
“I challenge Secretary Gazmin and the rest of the AFP officials to look for funds similar to the system in the Bases Conversion Development Authority where the sales of military lands were used to fund the modernization program,” Drilon said.
“We are looking at how the excess lands in the military camps can be made more productive to fund the modernization program in order to strengthen our defense system.”
Said Gazmin: “We are really having difficulty to producing [the funds], so we are finding other means.”
He said the military still had many pieces of property that could be sold or leased, including golf courses and military camps. (END)

 

Tobacco tax hike to worsen smuggling — lawmakers

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012 |

Cigarette smuggling in Mindanao is worse enough but it could worsen even more as a result of a plan to hike the tax on tobacco products, a lawmaker warned on Tuesday.
The Philippine Navy, mandated to guard the shorelines against enemies of the state, cannot control the backdoor so that the smuggling of cigarettes and other products from nearby countries continues to thrive in Mindanao, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Tuesday.
Recalling his experiences as a Navy officer, Trillanes supported the statement of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile about the country’s inability to regulate illicit trade. He said the government does not have the resources to address this problem.
“The question is: Are we efficient (to curb smuggling? No, we are not,” said Trillanes, a member of the senate ways and means committee chaired by Senator Ralph Recto.
Recto’s committee is conducting a public hearing on the proposed 700 percent increse in the tax on cigarettes and alcohol.
Enrile earlier said the government cannot collect what it wants to collect because of the possibility of black market traders shifting to smuggling and other illicit means to avoid the increased tax.
“We are one with Senator Enrile on this. If this will pass into law, smuggling will be the consequence. Are we efficient in addressing smuggling? No we are not. When I was assigned in Zamboanga, I witnessed the so-called ‘blue-seal’ smuggled cigarettes enter the country,” noted Trillanes.
Trillanes cited the need to study tax increases and identify the ideal rate which the market can absorb so that smuggling would not worsen.
He called on Finance and Health officials to stop confusing the public on their contradictory positions on the excise tax intended to generate additional revenues for the government and reduce tobacco consumption.
He said the government is confused on what it wants to do with the excise tax bill.
“If this is a tax measure, then DOF and BIR must be the only agencies concerned with this issue. Let’s not put any drama to this,” he said.
“The DOH, on the other hand, says it wants to reduce smoking consumption and yet desires that the DOF collect additional revenues of P60 billion that it can use for universal health care,” he said.
On the Health department’s position that the excise tax bill is also a health measure, he challenged the government to also start taxing unhealthy food products like fatty foods and sweets, among others.

 

Enrile laughs off rumors of coup d’ etat in Senate

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile on Tuesday laughed off a reported brewing coup d’etat in the Senate to remove him as Senate president due to his strong stance against the controversial Reproductive Health bill.
That bill aims to guarantee universal access to methods of contraception, fertility control, sexual education and maternal care.
“The possibility that I will always be replaced as Senate President is there everyday,” Enrile said but added he hadn’t heard of any such coup d’etat. Still, it would not be problem if he was removed.
“It’s okay and thank you,” he said.
“It’s okay for me due to my huge obligations in the Senate.” said Enrile, a ranking official of the United Nationalist Alliance, a coalition of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino of former President Joseph Estrada and the PDP-Laban of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Senator Franklin Drilon, a Liberal Party stalwart, said he had no knowledge of an impending coup in the Senate, while Senator Manny Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party, called the report speculation. Drilon and Villar have served as Senate President.
The talk was that Senator Ralph Recto of the Nacionalist Party, which has coalesced with the Liberal Party, would be installed as the new Senate President since he remained “acceptable” to all the political parties in the Senate.
“That’s speculation,” Recto said.
He told reporters he was not aware of the reported Senate coup or the plan to install him, saying he was not interested in

 succeeding Enrile.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III said he had no idea about the reported shakeup.
“If there’s report about it, it means that it’s not true. It will not happen,” he said.
“This has always occurred in the past–the changing of the guard.
Sotto said he believed the Senate’s support for Enrile remained solid.
“I know for a fact that the administration, the present administration, is pleased with the leadership of the Senate headed by Senator Enrile.”
It was also earlier reported that Senator Loren Legarda would be replacing Enrile, but Legarda said she hadn’t heard of any such report. (END)

 

Senate detains rice importer for lying

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 06, 2012 |

 

A rice importer was detained in the Senate on Wednesday for lying to the senators investigating the case of the 42,000 sacks of rice worth P500 million that Customs agents seized on suspicion of having been smuggled through the Subic Bay Freeport Zone on April 4.

Detained over rice. Senate security chief Jose Balajadia (left) escorts Cesar Ramirez, who was cited for contempt on Wednesday, and ordered detained in the Senate. Inset is a photo of Saumit Ghosh, who was linked to the smuggling of rice through the Subic Bay Freeport.

 

Cesar Ramirez, a member of the Federation of San Miguel Cooperatives based in General Santos City, was barred from leaving the Senate building after attending the hearing being led by Senator Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate’s agriculture committee.

He was whisked out of the session hall and escorted to the detention facility at the Senate’s parking area in the basement.

Another suspect in the case, Protek Guha, manager of Amira Foods, the company that owns the rice shipment, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing because, his lawyer said, he was in New Delhi.

Demetrio Custodio said Guha did not travel to the Philippines to attend the hearing on the advice of his doctor as a result of his high blood pressure.

Senators said another rice dealer, Magdangal Diego Bayani III of St. Andre1ws Field Grains and Cereal Trading, might also be detained if he continued to refuse to name the financiers of his business. He was given 5 days to explain why he should not be cited in contempt.

Senators including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said they were not convinced that Ramirez was telling the truth about the rice shipment seized in Subic. They held a caucus to decide how long Ramirez would stay under the Senate’s custody. (END)

 

Tagline creator breezes through CA

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 06, 2012 |

The campaign taglines “Big Man sa Senado” and “Kapag corrupt ka, Lagot ka,” which he had crafted for Senator Franklin Drilon and Senator Joker Arroyo for their election campaigns, drove the two members of the bicameral Commission on Appointments to approve the nomination of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., an official said on Wednesday.

“First, I must make my full disclosure why I am voting for the nominee,” Drilon said before voting to confirm Jimenez.

“He was the one who created my tagline in 2001, ‘Big Man sa Senado,’ but I am not alone.

“You remember the other tagline in that election, ‘Kapag corrupt ka, Lagot Ka?’ That was the tagline he gave to a good friend, Senator Joker Arroyo.’’

“It is on that premise that we are endorsing the nominee, the very competent executive and practitioner in this field,” said Drilon who was seated beside Arroyo in the confirmation hearing at the Senate.

No member of the commission objected to Jimenez’s appointment, and the proceedings lasted only 30 minutes.

But Alagad party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who is opposed to the Reproductive Health bill that seeks to guarantee universal access to contraception methods, fertility control, sexual education and maternal health care, quizzed Jimenez on his stand on the same bill.

“If I may your honor, I would just answer that the proper response to your question is to cite the very first book in the Bible, which says that when everything started, God created light and then he created the Heaven, the Earth, and then the animals and when he had all of that, it was then and only then that he brought man into the world,” Jimenez said.

“Our Lord was the very first responsible parent in human history. He made sure we had everything.”

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, the commission’s vice chairman and who is also opposed to the RH bill, said they should recommend Jimenez for confirmation immediately.

“I was really going to vote in favor of the secretary, but hearing that, we should have approved him two years ago,” Sotto said.

When Marcoleta asked Jimenez to clarify his statement, Jimenez said he was “for responsible parenthood which is another name for…”

Jimenez was not able to finish his statement because Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian, who heads the commission, cut him off and told them to talk about the matter in private after the confirmation hearing.

In brief statement before the confirmation hearing, Jimenez said he reached his first year at the Tourism Department on Sept. 1.

“I seek, of course, the honorable committee’s approval of my appointment today. I come here with colleagues and friends from the tourism industry,” Jimenez said.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte was the first to inquire about Jimenez’s program in his department, and Jimenez said he was now employing a cluster strategy.(END)

 

Sereno told: Stop ‘ex cathedra’ talk

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 05, 2012 |

Senator Joker Arroyo said he did not believe that the chief justice of the Supreme Court had an “angelic status” and instead asked her to refrain from speaking “ex cathedra.”

 

Reacting to Sereno’s declaration that her appointment as chief justice “came only from God,” Arroyo said he hoped it did not mean that she thought she was all-knowing.

 

“When you talk ex cathedra that means infallibility. We hope she does not think that way because that is not good. That does not allow dissent,” Arroyo said.

In her flag ceremony speech at the Supreme Court on Monday, Sereno said her appointment was God’s will. She denied that her appointment was a result of political lobbying.

 

As a junior member of the Supreme Court, Sereno bypassed 11 other senior justices. She is President Aquino’s first appointee to the Supreme Court and the first female chief justice.

 

Arroyo, a former human rights lawyer and one of the senior members of the Senate, showed surprise when told about Sereno’s divine referral of her appointment to the Supreme Court.

 

“Anointed by God?” he said.

 

“She said God’s will. You see the subliminal [message]? Her faith can be mistaken for infallibility.”

 

But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said government positions did not require religious tests, and that non-believers could be appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

 

“You can appoint a born-again Christian, or a Catholic. You can also appoint a Buddhist if he’s qualified. We have religious freedom in the country,” Enrile said.

 

Senator Francis Escudero said Sereno was just a religious person, and that he believed her religious beliefs would not infringe on her functions as chief justice. (END)

 

5-year plan to lick joblessness bared

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 04, 2012

 

• Wishful thinking? Trade chief says it can be done

 

The Trade and Industry department on Monday said the country’s unemployment problem can be solved with the creation of 9.1 million jobs within the next five years if the current $55-$60 billion merchandise and service export will be doubled.

“If we double our exports, it could add an additional 9.1 million job opportunities,” said Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo during the Senate finance committee hearing on his P4.093 billion proposed budget for 2013. DTI’s budget in 2012 was P3.2 billion.

“Doubling our estimates, our target up to 2016, we hope to double our $55-$60 billion to $120 billion which include both merchandise and service export,” Domingo told the committee chaired by Senator Franklin Drilon.

“Then that solves the unemployment problem because presently 2.8 million are unemployed based on present figures you mentioned, 7.3 million workers are considered underemployed and 2.8 workers are deemed unemployed,” commented Senator Loren Legarda.

Legarda also noted that even if the export market will not be doubled and simply increase it marginally, the problem of 2.8 million jobless Filipinos would be instantly solved.

Senator Edgardo Angara echoed Domingo’s claim that doubling one sector which is the merchandize export will address the unemployment and underemployment problem with 9 million jobs to be created.

“That’s what I’m saying. By just increasing our export and just concentrating on it, then we create better paying, better quality jobs. The IT-BPO is already on auto pilot, already on track. But the export number—it’s a roller coaster. So that’s the chance for our ‘farm boys’ to get better jobs in the factory and for the domestic, to do meaningful work,” he explained.

Legarda, however, noted that doubling the country’s export remains an objective, which may be accomplished in 12 months or even in 3 years.

Later, Legarda said that in the meantime, the government needs to put in place the micro, small and medium enterprises law that can generate jobs in the grassroots, the countryside.

“Perhaps, we need to provide incentives and get everything working. I always believe in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),” Legarda said.

She added that micro enterprises, should be provided the needed funds.

“We believe that implementation of the SME law will give solution to the problem of unemployment. We need to help product development and capital small business firms so they become self-employed, and may even be a part of the export market and help reduce unemployment,” Legarda said.

She branded as a “dream” DTI’s vision for a double merchandise and service export. But she considers it a ‘good dream’.

In a separate interview, Angara said the DTI’s projection may be possible within the next five years. He said the level of our export is $50-55 billion, 2/3 of which is on electronics.

But now that the demand for electronics in the United States and in Europe has gone down, the export on these products had declined.

But Angara said the decline was compensated by the increase in the non-electronics exports such as furniture and processed foods.

As a result, Angara said the country was able to maintain its export at $50-55 billion level.

“So it is possible in the next 3 yrs or up to the time President Aquino steps down in 2016 to double it to 100 billion. Well, they’re quite optimistic, they say they can double it, but it requires effort,” said Angara.

He added however that the DTI also has to double its efforts to advertise and market the products they wish to export.