GOODWILL VISIT
Philippine Navy Naval Combat Engineering Brigade Cmdr. Francisco Gabudao Jr. (left) gestures beside Russian Rear Adm. Eduard Mikhailov, deputy commander of the Flotilla of Pacific Fleet of Russia, as the Russian Navy vessel Admiral Tributs, a large antisubmarine ship, docks at Manila’s pier on Tuesday. Two Russian navy vessels are in the country for a goodwill visit until January 7. Story on A3. AP/Aaron Favila
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 84
Factory growth losing steam, Dec. PMI shows
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By Bianca Cuaresma
@BcuaresmaBM
he country’s manufacturing industry exhibited signs of continued growth last December, although at a slower pace, due to concerns over traffic congestions, bottlenecks and price movements perennially associated with the holiday season. See “Factory,” A2
inside
There were concerns that traffic congestion and customs bottlenecks impeded the smooth delivery of preproduction materials.”—Aw
@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief
life
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18th Congress, a record setter in passing bills?
Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza
W
ith the House of Representatives’ vow to do better this year, there’s no doubt that we will see more laws passed under the 18th Congress in the next three years. After all, it did show its capability to pass bills expeditiously the way it passed House Bill (HB) 4144. Continued on A11
‘PHL should bolster economic ties with major trade partners’ By Catherine N. Pillas
By Manuel T. Cayon |
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Conclusion
INDANAO’s yearning for peace has been the longing of its tri-people. They are the Bangsamoro (literally, Moro nation), the non-Moro settlers—many of whose forebears were those who took advantage of government endorsement to work in “the Land of Promise”—and the lumad, about 18 ethnolinguistic tribes spread across this secondlargest island. Although President Duterte has expressed his own commentary about some noncomforming provisions of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) with the Philippine Constitution, his intention to generate a more inclusive peace settlement found full support from the two major revolutionary organizations in Mindanao. With full legal assurance and with the waiving of a warrant of arrest, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari came out after three years of hiding to accede to Duterte’s invitation to a dialogue. Misuari went
PESO exchange rates n US 49.7690
Pigeons fly beside a mosque in Parañaque City. NONIE REYES
to Malacañang, and expressed his full support to a peace process involving his organization, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and any other organizations that may get invited in the course of the negotiation. MNLF legal counsel Randolph Parcasio said it would be the single biggest achievement of the Duterte administration to bring
together in one negotiation table Misuari and MILF Chairman AlHaj Murad Ebrahim. “What a sight it would be to see these two dignified leaders, and with Duterte,” Misuari said. “They would definitely produce the most enduring and lasting peace in Mindanao.” So far, the two organizations have agreed to set aside their respective Continued on A2
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He local semiconductors and electronics industry, which now accounts for more than half of the country’s $46-billion exports, has a simple New Year’s wish: for the Philippines to maintain its good trade relations with China and the United States. Dan Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, said even as the growth for 2016 is projected at 6 percent, the key to sustaining this is to maintain “solid” relations with the country’s first- and third- largest trading partners. “Developing or increasing trade with other countries is beneficial for growth and reducing risk of overdependence on any one economy. This, however, need not be at the expense of trade with current partners,” Lachica said in an e-mail to the BusinessM irror. “China and the US are our firstand third-biggest electronics trade partners, respectively. We would like to see both grow in 2017,” he added. According to 2015 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, China was the country’s second-largest trading partner, next to Japan. The Philippines’s exports to China in 2015 were valued at $6.175 billion. Of the amount, 54.9 percent, or $3.38 billion, came from the sales
$6.175B The value of Philippine exports to China in 2015
of electronic products. In the same period, the value of exports to the US was bigger at $9.023 billion, of which 39.4 percent came from electronic products, or some $3.557 billion.
Growth drivers
Lachica said the improvement of alternative ports could also boost exports growth this year. “Port congestion has diminished, we need to pursue higher utilization of Batangas and Subic ports,”he said. “We need to automate the process; reduce the approval time; eliminate duplication with other government agencies; and certify logistics providers to relieve the burden on industry,” he added. New sources of growth will be detailed in the industry’s updated road map, which will be based on a study being funded by the departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technology, dubbed as Product a nd Technology Holistic Strategy 2 (PATHS 2). “This is a follow-up to the PATHS 1 study, funded by the USAIDSTRIDE, which identified the emerging trends I mentioned,” Lachica said.
n japan 0.4233 n UK 61.1860 n HK 6.4161 n CHINA 7.16440 n singapore 34.3282 n australia 35.7441 n EU 52.0833 n SAUDI arabia 13.2738
Source: BSP (3 January 2017 )