Before King Carlos, there’s Kuya Caloy, his siblings’ idol
MARK ANDREW YULO (center), father of Olympics gold medalist Carlos Yulo, proudly holds a childhood photo of Carlos, flanked by his siblings and fellow athletes Karl Eldrew (left), a silver medalist at the Asian championships, and Eliza, a four-time gold medalist at the Cebu City Palarong Pambansa, at their home in Leveriza, Malate, Manila. Their family story and journey to Olympic success is featured on News A2. NONOY LACZA
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
WITH 2 GOLDS IN PARIS,
www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Monday, August 5, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 293
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
YULO GREATEST EVER
NG borrows P1.57T in H1, 12.9% more than 2023
CARLOS EDRIEL YULO celebrates after winning the gold medal during the men’s artistic gymnastics individual vault finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, August 4, 2024, in Paris, France. AP/CHARLIE RIEDEL
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
T
P
By Jun Lomibao
ARIS—Carlos Yulo has immortalized himself in the annals of Philippine and Olympic history by clinching his second gold medal in a span of only two days in Paris 2024. “I was surprised myself, I just kind of did it,” said Yulo, who looked relaxed the entire afternoon, much unlike the day before in the floor exercise. “I went out there and just poured everything I got.” Greatest Filipino athlete ever with two Olympic golds? “It’s a great honor and privilege for me ... just like Ate Hidilyn [Diaz], she’s the first-ever gold medalist for us,” he said. “When I touched and felt her gold medal, I told myself, ‘Soon, it will be my turn.’” Yulo won the men’s vault—as many had expected—on Sunday, roughly 24 hours after he mesmerized in the floor exercise another awed and jampacked crowd at the cavernous Bercy Arena. He may not be like the US’s Simone Biles, the sport’s superstar, but Yulo amazed the world of sports by winning twice in a blue-chip sport and competing for a small country in the far east whose most recognizable athlete is a great professional boxer
named Manny Pacquiao. Yulo was fourth on the runway and was so amazing that not even a missed landing in his second attempt could deny him of the historic feat. His first vault was a near-flawless 15.433 on a 6.0 degree of difficulty, enough to cushion the 14.800 in his second vault with a lower 5.6 difficulty. The seven other vaulters were reduced to settling for second and third place. Armenia’s Artur Davtyan was consistent at 14.966 in two attempts for silver, and Great Britain’s Harry Hepworth started with 14.966 and was the only other vaulter to break 15 with 15.066 for a 14.949 average for the bronze. “Answered prayers,” is how Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino—who now has three golds during his watch as POC president after weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s mint in Tokyo 2020—put it. “We already broke the record in the Olympics, that’s it,” Tolentino added.
Seipi pushes exemption from Customs’ ICT system
T
By Andrea E. San Juan
HE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (Seipi) is seeking the exemption of electronics exporters from the implementation of Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) as this is expected to add around P1 million to P2 million a month to logistics cost, which could result in loss of competitiveness. E-TRACC is a measure that enables the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to “generate real-time and accurate information and to monitor the movement and location of containers using tracking devices and linking it in real time with the electronic documentation system.” According to Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 04-2020, this shall cover the “inland movements of containerized goods using an Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabled system to protect the revenue
due the government.” Seipi President Danilo C. Lachica said this policy will entail additional cost to electronics exporters. “Additional cost. It’s really a redundant policy and we met with the BOC yesterday and they’re saying...it’s a revenue loss… [I said], the more you will lose revenue [if the] companies leave,” as a result of the implementing this measure. Explaining the “redundancy” of the measure, the Seipi chief said logistics providers already have a tracking system in place. “They’re saying they will reduce the lead time, that’s not the point. The point is that’s a redundant policy. Our logistics providers have a GPS system so that’s being tracked, and secondly, I’ve told them this, in the 50 years of the electronics industry, there has been no incidence of technical smuggling,” the Seipi chief added. Illustrating the impact of additional fees for
Continued on A2
HE national government borrowed P1.570 trillion from the domestic and foreign debt markets in the first half of 2024 to meet the country’s financing requirements, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). Data from the Treasury showed the government’s gross borrowings grew by 12.87 percent from January to June 2024 from the P1.391 trillion recorded in the same period in 2023. Broken down, gross domestic borrowings reached P1.303 trillion as of end-June this year, up by 27.12 percent from the P1.025 trillion in the same period a year ago. This makes up the bulk or 83 percent of the government’s gross borrowings in the first half of the year. Under domestic borrowings, the government raised P584.861 billion from the issuance of Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs) in February 2024. The state has also borrowed P609.207 billion through Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds (T-bonds) and P109.070 billion from Treasury Bills (T-bills) so far. Meanwhile, gross external borrowings went down by 27.02 percent year-on-year to P267.412 billion in January-June 2024 period, from P366.441 billion. Gross foreign borrowings accounted for 17.03 percent of the overall gross borrowings as of end-June 2024. The bulk, or P115.247 billion came from the issuance of Global Bonds in May 2024, followed by Program Loans amounting to P100.498 billion and Project Loans at P51.667 billion. For the month of June, the government borrowed P132.476 billion from the domestic debt market, lower by 7.95 percent than the P143.920 billion it raised in the See “NG Borrows,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.3150 n JAPAN 0.3905 n UK 74.2933 n HK 7.4625 n CHINA 8.0479 n SINGAPORE 43.6490 n AUSTRALIA 37.8989 n EU 62.9452 n KOREA 0.0426 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5411 Source: BSP (August 2, 2024)