INDONESIA TSUNAMI TOLL TOPS 800 AMID SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS P ALU, Indonesia— Rescuers in Indonesia were scrambling on Sunday to reach trapped victims screaming for help from collapsed buildings, while looters risked entering an unstable shopping mall to grab whatever they could find after a massive earthquake spawned a tsunami that left moret than 800 dead. People could still be heard calling out from the eightstory Roa-Roa Hotel, which toppled as Friday’s twin disasters swept through the hard-hit city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, said Muhammad Syaugi, the head of THIS is what's left of a shopping mall following earthquakes and a tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on September 30. A tsunami swept away buildings and killed hundreds on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. AP/TATAN SYUFLANA
MEDIA PARTNER OF THE YEAR
UNITED NATIONS
2015 ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AWARD LEADERSHIP AWARD 2008
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency. “I can still hear the voices of the survivors screaming for help while inspecting the compound,” he told local online news portal Detik.com, adding there could be 50 people trapped inside. Disaster agency Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference Sunday that the death toll had more than doubled to 832, with nearly all of those killed in Palu. He said there were still no comprehensive reports about casualties in surrounding coastal areas. “The death toll is believed to be still increasing, since many bodies were still under the wreckage, while many have not been reached,” he said. Continued on A6
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Monday, October 1, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 352
‘Economy stable despite lower growth forecasts’ 6.4% T By Cai U. Ordinario
@cuo_bm
HE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) remained confident that the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals will hold despite the lower growth forecasts released by international agencies for the Philippines, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted a quick recovery for the country despite the still lingering risks owing to internal and external factors.
In a statement on Sunday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia noted the de-
cision of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Fitch Solutions to cut their GDP growth forecasts in
2018 and 2019. T he A DB dow ng r ade d it s growth forecast to 6.4 percent,
A
@BNicolasBM
NALYSTS said the executive issuances released by Malacañang last week can help moderate inflation, but they also believe the government must exert more effort in improving agriculture in order to fully address the problem, especially for the medium to long term. Malacañang released last week Administrative Order (AO) 13 on removing nontariff barriers and stream lining administrative procedures, as well as three memorandum orders listing the other government measures to curb inflation. Notably, the AO also authorized the National Food Authority Council to approve additional rice importation beyond the minimum access volume (MAV) commitment specified under Executive Order 23, series of
Task Force Boracay warns resorts: Don’t cheat on compliance By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
B
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
from 6.8 percent for 2018, and to 6.7 percent, from 6.9 percent in 2019. Fitch Solutions, a member of the Fitch Group, also cut its 2018 growth outlook for the country to 6.3 percent from 6.5 percent.
ORACAY ISLAND, Malay, Aklan—The interagency Task Force Boracay is targeting to have some 5,000 rooms available by the time this popular resort island wakes up from its “beauty rest” on October 26. In a brief interview with the BusinessMirror, Task Force Chairman and Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said 1,000 rooms will be made available each day during the government’s dry run for the island, from October 15 to 25. “By October 26 we will reach 5,000 rooms; first day [of the dry run], 1,000 rooms; second day, another 1,000; third day, another 1,000 rooms, and so on.” He added that each hotel participating in the dry run “will be given a quota. Let’s say 200 [guests] for one hotel, we will able to test them. Another hotel, another 200 guests.” So far, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has accredited only 25 resorts with some 2,000 rooms based on submissions to them by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) of compliant establishments.
See “Economy,” A2
Continued on A2
The average growth of the Philippine economy in the last eight years, “the fastest since the mid1970s,” according to the Neda chief
Fast-tracking Security of Tenure bill seen at Senate
These damagecontrol measures could moderate inflation slightly but at the cost of undermining agriculture and our food security over the long run. The country cannot be made captive to the production decisions of agricultural exporters nor subject to rising prices from a peso in chronic decline.” —IBON’s Africa 2017, for allocation to the private sector, subject to conditions imposed by Republic Act 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996. The latter allows importation of certain agricultural products beyond MAV upon payment See “Inflation,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.2510
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 28 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Inflation busters just short-term fix; farms need govt help–experts By Bernadette D. Nicolas
2016 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
& Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
W DUCK, COVER, HOLD Workers walk calmly in front of the Philippine Stock Exchange building in Bonifacio Global City during the BGC’s city-wide earthquake drill on September 27. The drill was meant to ensure the safety of BGC residents, workers and visitors, who were encouraged to remain calm, and follow the “duck, cover and hold” key reminders. They were also told to remember safe rally points where everyone can converge and be assisted by disaster response teams. The Philippines has been holding earthquake drills periodically in preparation for the “Big One.” On Sunday its neighbor Indonesia experienced a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Sulawesi island, followed by a tsunami. Story on top of page. NONIE REYES
@jearcalas
ITH President Duterte having certified as urgent the measure ending illegal contractualization and “end of contract” (endo) practices, the Senate leadership has committed to pass their version of what is billed the “Security of Tenure” (SOT) bill before the next session break in October, with hopes of ensuring enactment into law soon after. This, as a member of the House of Representatives suggested that the Senate incorporate the House of the Representatives’s own SOT bill into their own version to fasttrack the approval of a law by
n JAPAN 0.4785 n UK 70.9820 n HK 6.9416 n CHINA 7.8750 n SINGAPORE 39.6658 n AUSTRALIA 39.0933 n EU 63.1644 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.4670
Continued on A2
Source: BSP (28 September 2018 )