Debt of Society

Speed up reforms, World Bank tells PH

 

High power rates and limited access to financing for small enterprises are among the structural problems that the Philippine government should address so that economic growth can translate into poverty reduction, the World Bank said on Monday.

In its latest quarterly report on the Philippines, the World Bank said the country had achieved low inflation, a sustained economic growth, a declining debt burden, a stable banking sector and a comfortable level of foreign exchange reserves.

But the country should work on graduating from merely achieving and sustaining macroeconomic stability to spreading prosperity to most Filipinos, the multilateral agency said.

“The government has done a really good job in achieving macroeconomic stability. But there are structural impediments that have to be addressed … to achieve a more inclusive growth and to reduce poverty at a faster pace,” Karl Kendrick Chua, World Bank country economist for the Philippines, said at a press conference.

Besides high power rates and lack of financing for small enterprises, Chua enumerated other impediments to poverty reduction—unpredictable regulations, uneven playing field for businesses in terms of taxation, high cost of and a tedious process in starting a business, and limited access to education and skills training.

Read the full article http://business.inquirer.net/50079/speed-up-reforms-world-bank-tells-ph

Upcoming Election

 Comelec brass sees better 2013 elections


By May Anne Cacdac

Saturday, December 1, 2012

TAGAYTAY CITY -- Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rene Sarmiento anticipates a better conduct of automated elections this second time around.

Speaking before select media from Luzon during the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism initiated seminar on the election coverage, Sarmiento stressed moves by the Comelec are being made to ensure credible and peaceful elections on May 13, 2013.

“Noteworthy is the recent creation of the Comelec’s Campaign Finance Unit to oversee election campaign spending and see to it that laws governing fiscal related matters covering elections are strictly followed,” Sarmiento said.

Comelec Resolution 9476 outlines a new set of rules and regulations on electoral contributions, expenditures and procedures and states the CFU will receive and evaluate the candidates’ statement of expenditures and their contributors’ disclosure of campaign donations.

Apart from the CFU, Sarmiento also underscored the re-registration of voters and the cleansing of the voters’ list in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao where bulk of the cheating during the last elections.

“This is apart from the offsite registrations Comelec conducted to accommodate more Persons with Disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and even detainees,” Sarmiento added.

The commissioner noted a decrease in PWD voters during the first automated elections but stressed Comeleec is coordinating with the Dpartment of Public Works and Highways to provide ramps in polling places to accommodate PWDs.

The Comelec also had a command conference with key officers of the Philippine National Police to lay out security plans before, during and even after the May 2013 elections.

“The election is truly a complex process which entails a web of human resources, technology, facilities and materials. There were doomsday prophecies of the failure of elections in 2010 but leave it to the Filipinos to prove themselves and the world wrong. There were lessons to be learned and from there we can move on,” Sarmiento said in closing.

Tree Of Life

Coconut oil exports continue increase

Philippine exports of coconut oil continued to rise as of September this year on the back of stronger demand from the traditional markets, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP) said over the weekend.

Yvonne Agustin, UCAP executive director, said that preliminary data showed that CNO exports reached 659,455MT in January to September 2012, or 3.8 percent higher from last year’s level of 634,911MT.

“Demand from our major markets for the product continued to be stable,” Agustin said, noting that ample supply of the commodity allowed the industry to meet demand.

In September 2012 alone, coconut oil exports surged 41 percent to 71,992 MT from 51,007 MT a year ago.

The UCAP official attributed the sharp increase to base effects, as demand from the United States and Europe—the key overseas market for the commodity—had slumped last year.

Agustin also ascribed the higher shipments this year to the market’s shift away from palm kernel oil toward CNO, because of narrowing price differentials.

“These shipments were traded maybe a month before, when coconut oil was still at a discounted price against palm kernel oil. That may have also caused buyers to favor coconut oil,” she said.

Palm kernel oil is coconut oil’s premier competitor in the world market.

Early this year, coconut oil was priced higher than palm kernel oil, but since March, the premium between both began to narrow, Agustin said.

Last month, CNO was priced at an average of $952 per MT during the period, while palm kernel oil was at $971 per MT.

With the continued growth in CNO exports, Agustin also said that the industry remains on-track towards meeting its target.

“It’s unlikely that we’ll exceed it, but we remain hopeful that we sustain this growth,” she said.

The Philippines aims to ship 925,000MT of CNO this year.

Human Trafficking in the Philippines

MANILA -- The Philippines is no doubt a good resource for human trafficking, a United Nations (UN) official said Friday.

In a press conference, UN's Joy Ngozi Ezeilo lamented how Filipinos are being trafficked in different parts of the world.

"Children, women, and men are trafficked in the Philippines abroad for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual tourism, cybersex and pornographic purposes, for forced and bonded labor, domestic servitude, forced marriages, as well as for organ transplantation," Ezeilo said.

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, gestures as she talks about her report on her fact-finding mission in the Philippines on Friday at Makati City. (Associated Press)

Ezeilo is in the Philippines for a five-day fact finding mission to examine the situation of trafficked persons and the impact of anti-trafficking measures in the country.

Among the places she visited are Manila, Cebu, and Zamboanga.

The Nigerian noted how trafficking worldwide can be attributed to the socio-economic conditions in the country, including growing poverty, youth unemployment, gender inequalities, discrimination, gender-based violence, especially to women and girls.

Other factors at play, she noted, were armed conflict, clan feuding, and natural disasters, which results to large numbers of individuals being displaced.

The special envoy also noticed that trafficking of Filipina migrant workers is chiefly due to poverty and unequal access to employment and means of livelihood for women.

"Women want to migrate to earn income or run away from gender-based violence at home country," the human rights lawyer noted.

On the other hand, Ezeilo credited the Philippines for demonstrating strong commitment in combating human trafficking since the enactment in 2003 of the Republic Act 9028, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

"This is reflected by the ratification of the Protocol Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children or the Palermo Protocol," Ezeilo said.

She also commended the Philippine’s initiative in entering bilateral agreements with numerous countries of origin, transit and destination both for cooperation on human trafficking issues, and for conducting training and capacity building activities in collaboration with other countries, the UN and other international organizations.

"The Philippine government's anti-trafficking initiative is, therefore, in-line with its anti-trafficking law, which indeed encompasses the definition of trafficking in persons provided under the Palermo Protocol and penalizes all forms of trafficking in persons," Ezeilo said. (HDT/Sunnex)