Asean Tribune

South Korea’s business sentiment improved for May amid a steady recovery in exports, which offsets a slowdown in private spending, a central bank poll showed Thursday.

Local companies’ business sentiment index (BSI) stood at 73 for the coming month, up from 71 the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.

The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

The central bank said business sentiment rose as exports are likely to continue their upward trend.

The BSI for manufacturers came to 74 for May, up 1 point from the previous month. The index for nonmanufacturing firms rose 2 points to 71 over the same period, the data showed.

The country’s outbound shipments moved up for the sixth consecutive month in March on the back of the robust performance of chips.

Exports gained 3.1 percent on-year to US$56.5 billion last month, while imports decreased 12.3 percent on-year to $52.2 billion last mont
h, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.28 billion. South Korea has been maintaining a trade surplus for 10 consecutive months.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

BAGUIO CITY: Some 1,021 farmers from Apayao province received on Wednesday their Intervention Monitoring Card (IMC), which will be where future cash assistance will be sent, while farmers in Kalinga province will receive theirs on Friday.

Department of Agriculture-CAR assistant director for operations Danilo Daguio, in a phone interview on Thursday, said the region was selected as among the areas nationwide to pilot test the digital distribution of assistance, which also taps third party as source of the agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.

Last December, DA pilot-tested in Kalinga and Abra province the tapping of third party distributors of the agricultural inputs using stubs, which the farmers used to claim the assistance.

With the use of the IMC, the 1,021 farmer-beneficiaries from Apayao, who were listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), need to present to the accredited merchant the card whenever they receive any agri-related assistance.

‘Through digitaliz
ation, the complaint of inappropriate items or brands will be avoided as farmers are given the freedom to choose from those sold by the accredited merchant,’ he said.

The IMC digitalization program is an initiative of the DA central office that aims to make it easier for farmers to receive government assistance.

It is part of the nine-point agenda of the department on digital agriculture, which is science and information-driven to digitalize the process of aid distribution.

Daguio said the system also benefits the DA since ‘it saves the Department from doing the procurement process, cuts the cost of transporting the goods from the regional office to the destination province and also removes the expense on food and event organizing during the distribution.’

‘Both ways, to the government and the farmer-beneficiaries, the IMC is advantageous,’ he said.

Alfonso Artikulo, a farmer from Baluyan in the municipality of Flora, Apayao said in Ilocano: ‘I am thankful for the good programs of the DA. I have been rec
eiving assistance since 2018 and I, with the other farmers, are thankful.’

Source: Philippines News Agency

Today (%) Previous Session(%) Change (BP)

1-year TB 3.485 3.472 +1.3

2-year TB 3.533 3.509 +2.4

3-year TB 3.543 3.509 +3.4

10-year TB 3.707 3.645 +6.2

2-year MSB 3.515 3.498 +1.7

3-year CB (AA-) 4.029 4.004 +2.5

91-day CD 3.570 3.560 +1.0

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on Thursday commended the police for its swift assistance to a freelance photojournalist whose belongings were illegally seized by members of a private security agency in Silang, Cavite.

In a news release, the PTFoMS said Jose Monsieur Santos, 23, a member of the Filipino Freelance Journalists’ Guild and correspondent of news outfit One PH, sought the task force’s assistance after unidentified members of the Jarton Security Agency forcibly confiscated his equipment while covering a demolition operation in a disputed property in Barangay Tartaria past midnight on April 20.

Among the confiscated items were Santos’ Nikon D750 DSLR camera, two camera lenses, press chest vest, Kevlar helmet and backpack containing his computer tablet, laptop, mess kit and other personal items.

Despite introducing himself as a member of the press and repeated appeal to have his seized personal items returned to him, the security guards refused, Santos told PTFoMS.

U
ndersecretary Paul Gutierrez, PTFoMS Executive Director, sought police assistance through Calabarzon Police Regional Office (PRO-4A) Director, Brig. Gen. Paul Kenneth Lucas and Cavite Police Director Col. Eleuterio Ricardo Jr.

Gutierrez also sought the assistance of the PRO-4A press corps in disseminating the incident.

Silang Police chief Lt. Col. Louie DC Gonzaga received PTFoMS’ request and took the initiative of recovering the items seized, in coordination with the office of Mayor Alston Kevin Anarna.

However, since the recovered belongings were incomplete, Santos refused to claim them, upon the advice of his lawyer.

They are now preparing the filing of criminal charges against Jarton Security Agency for theft.

Despite this, Santos still expressed gratitude to the PTFoMS for its prompt action in assisting him.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez commended the Calabarzon police office and Anarna for their effort in not only assisting Santos and the affected tenants but also in easing the tension in Barangay Tartaria
.

A reported 137 farmers were reportedly being evicted from the property by the security agency hired by private firms despite the pending decision of the Supreme Court and the Department of Agrarian Reform on land ownership.

Gutierrez particularly lauded Gonzaga for ensuring the return of Santos’ stolen items and his assurance that the photojournalist would get full police assistance and security in Silang should he decide to pursue charges against Jarton Security Agency.

‘It this kind of voluntary and sincere inter-agency cooperation that makes the PTFoMS effective in discharging its mandate as the government’s official mechanism to address all violations of media rights,’ Gutierrez said.

‘With every agency working together, we assure our colleagues in the media that their right to perform their job as truth seekers is being protected by the government,’ he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korean retail giant Lotte Group has signed a deal to sell its China theme park project to a local company in the Chinese northeastern city of Shenyang, a group official said Thursday.

The group official told Yonhap News Agency that Lotte has signed to sell its entire stake in its China-based company Lotte Glory Properties Shenyang running the project to a Shenyang-city-run company.

The official did not provide the value of the contract, but reports say the deal fetches up to 450 billion won (US$327 million).

The “Lotte Town” project that includes a theme park, a residential area, a department store and a movie theater has been halted since 2017 due to diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing.

Korean retailers and other businesses have been hit hard by the lingering impact of a diplomatic dispute over the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. anti-missile system called THAAD in 2017.

The company has recently signed a stock purchase agreement with a Shenyang city-run company to sell its China-base
d company running the project, though the sale process has yet to be finalized, a Lotte spokesperson said over the phone.

Lotte kicked off the complex town project in 2008 with an aim to complete it in 2019 but it was suspended in December 2016 due to China’s so-called retaliations against the THAAD installation.

Beijing opposed the THAAD system, arguing it could be used against the country, though Seoul said it is purely aimed at deterring missile threats from North Korea.

Lotte sold most of its Lotte Mart outlets in 2018 and withdrew its food manufacturing business from China in the following year.

In April 2020, the retail conglomerate closed the Lotte Department store in Shenyang, which had opened in May 2014 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lotte said it is also in the process of selling the Lotte Department store in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, due to sluggish sales.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

LAOAG CITY: A total of PHP40.7 million worth of agriculture inputs and equipment were turned over by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Ilocos Norte’s provincial government to local farmers and fishers here on Thursday.

A total of 949 individual farmers and 26 farmer associations received 680 bags of organic and inorganic fertilizers, 8,442 bottles of foliar fertilizers and insecticides, 26 units of agri-machinery, such as water pumps, grass cutters, forage choppers, knapsack sprayers, plastic crates, and 98 packs of assorted vegetable seeds, palay, and corn seeds, distributed under the provincial government’s “Agri ka Dito!’ program.

Under the fuel subsidy program, 110 farmers from Marcos, Ilocos Norte also received PHP3,000 each, while 137 livestock raisers from Dingras received one goat each, and 500 livestock raisers from Sarrat and Dingras received 500 heads of free-range chicken.

At least 32 farmers from Paoay received PHP4,500 each as a cash incentive for the provincial government-initiated bamb
oo rehabilitation project.

A total of 313 fishermen from the towns of Bacarra, Banna, Batac, Dingras, Pagudpud, Paoay, Pasuquin, Piddig, Sarrat, and Solsona also received one piece of fishnet each, which included nets and weights, worth a total of PHP2.7 million.

About 264 fishermen from Bacarra, Badoc, Bangui, Burgos, Currimao, Laoag, Pagudpud, Paoay and Pasuquin also received one-gill net each, which included nets and cords, worth a total of PHP1.2 million.

In addition, 26 farm machinery amounting to PHP21,180,412 were given to farmer associations under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). These included eight four-wheel hand tractors and 10 hand tractors, two walk-behind transplanters, two rice reapers, and four rice threshers.

‘We are so happy that all our requests were granted,’ said Dominador Ignacio, a farmer from Laoag City.

Ignacio said they were able to establish a sustainable community garden in Navotas South because of the free agricultural inputs being distributed by the governm
ent to boost food security.

During harvest day at the community garden, every household gets a share of fresh in-season fruits and vegetables.

Through word of mouth, Rodrigo Sadian, who has a livestock and poultry farm in Barangay Salbang, Paoay tried to request for a water hose under the Agri Ka Dito hotline of the provincial government.

After verifying his identification card in the local registry of farmers, Sadian said he received a text message informing him that the water hose he requested was ready for pickup.

Source: Philippines News Agency