Day: June 19, 2024

MANILA: The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has urged the government to consider power subsidy as a key policy to attract investments into the country.

During its Power Summit 2024 in Makati City Wednesday, PCCI president Enunina Mangio said reliable energy supply and affordable power costs will make the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors.

‘As we all know, the Philippines is at a critical juncture in its energy journey. The imminent depletion of the Malampaya natural gas fields, coupled with our growing population and economy and the transition away from coal, presents formidable challenges,’ Mangio said.

‘Our nation, which already contends with some of the highest electricity rates in Asia, must navigate these waters with precision and foresight,’ she added.

PCCI chairman and director for energy and power George Barcelon said the Philippines has the highest electricity rate compared to neighboring countries at USD0.19 per kilowatt hour in 2023.

This is higher than Thaila
nd’s USD0.125 per kWh, Indonesia’s USD0.089 per kWh, Vietnam’s USD0.076 per kWh, and Malaysia’s USD0.047 per kWh.

On the other hand, the country’s per capita electricity consumption is lowest at 0.90 megawatt hour (MWh) versus Indonesia’s 1 MWh, Thailand’s 2.9 MWh, and Malaysia’s 5.1 MWh.

‘As key indicators of industrialization, we have the lowest power demand and capacity level; the lowest per capita power consumption, and our power demand growth just basically tracks our population growth,’ Barcelon said.

He said neighboring ASEAN countries with lower power costs have attracted higher foreign direct investments (FDIs).

In 2022, Indonesia was able to capture USD24.7 billion in FDIs, Vietnam with USD17.9 billion, Malaysia with USD14.73 billion, and Thailand with USD11.23 billion, while the Philippines attracted relatively lower FDIs at USD9.37 billion.

‘One can always argue on the subsidy provided by the governments of these countries but we must also keep in mind that these subsidies are a form of inves
tment to bring in investors and accelerate the growth of their economies. And they have begun achieving their goals,’ Barcelon said.

He proposed to have an ‘urgent Executive Action’ on power subsidy, whether in the form of incentives, adoption of uniform franchise tax for distribution utilities, or value added tax (VAT) zero rating on the sale of electricity to consumers.

‘Again, a change in mindset where we consider ‘subsidy as investment and not as a cost with no payback’ [is needed],’ Barcelon said.

Other proposals of the country’s largest business group for ‘Executive Actions’ include the designation of power sustainability, quality and reliability, and power cost as major components of the national strategy to achieve growth; a power supply deployment strategy; approval processes associated with building new power plants, power supply agreements and rate-setting mechanisms; management and technical capacity of electric cooperatives and distribution utilities; and creation of Regional Power Councils th
at will draft the Energy and Power Strategic Program on a per grid basis.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Despite an astronomical budget for efforts to tackle the ultralow birthrate, South Korea is facing an even worse demographic picture, and the government vowed Wednesday to narrow its policy focus to support the people’s balancing of work and life, child rearing and stable housing under an emergency response system.

The government has spent 380 trillion won (US$275.58 billion) over the past 18 years or so only to witness the total fertility rate, which means the average number of expected births from a woman in her lifetime, sinking to an all-time low of 0.72 last year.

It was far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to keep the country’s population at 51 million stable without immigration. South Korea is the only country among the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where the total fertility rate was below 1 as of 2021.

The figure is expected to fall further to 0.68 in 2024, according to Statistics Korea.

Various surveys have shown that young people are relu
ctant to start families and have babies out of concerns of increasingly heavy burdens regarding housing prices and education costs, among other factors.

More women also want to continue their careers, which seem to be far from easy, given the country’s long working hours and not-very-flexible employment system.

Under the circumstances, the government decided to put its policy priority on three categories to help the people: striking a balance between their work and life, easing the burdens of child rearing and ensuring stable housing circumstances.

“A total of 47 trillion won of the budget was set aside last year for 142 programs that aimed to boost the fertility rate. But only half of them were used for key projects that are directly linked to the goal. It is urgent to reassess them to better deal with the challenges,” Han Sung-min, an official of the state-run Korea Development Institute, said.

According to a set of measures the government announced Wednesday, monthly parental leave benefits will be rai
sed to up to 2.5 million won for the first three months from the current 1.5 million won.

The amount will be reduced to 2 million won for the following three months and 1.6 million won for the next six months.

The government will provide subsidies for employers who hire temporary replacements for employees on parental leave, and a 200,000 won monthly subsidy will be given to colleagues who fill the vacancies of working moms and dads who have left their workplaces.

By doing so, the government aims to raise the usage rate of paternity leave from the current 6.8 percent to 50 percent during Yoon’s term.

The government will also introduce a shorter-term parental leave scheme that allows working parents to take a two-week leave. Working moms and dads will also be able to have more flexible time off for child care.

Paternity leave for fathers will be doubled to 20 days.

A special program that allows employees to reduce working hours will now be available for those with a child aged 12 or younger, compared wit
h the current age limit of 8, and they will be able to apply for the scheme for up to 36 months, rather than the current 24 months.

Starting next year, children aged 5-7 will enjoy free education at kindergartens, with the subject to be extended further.

The government will expand after-school care and various education programs for elementary school students to ease the educational burden on parents.

To meet demand for child care at home, the government vowed to secure 1,200 foreign domestic helpers by the first half of next year and begin a pilot project allowing foreign students and wives of foreign laborers to get jobs as housekeepers.

Households with newborns will be given priority in housing allocations and low-interest loans for home purchases.

The government will set aside 120,000 homes for households with newborn babies and increase the proportion of homes that construction firms are required to allocate to newlywed couples when selling new apartments to 23 percent from the current 18 percent of
each complex.

Various special tax incentives for married couples and those with babies will be expanded.

Couples who want to have babies will be eligible to receive greater support for infertility treatments.

The government will create a new ministry to oversee low birth rate issues, as well as a new office on the birth rate issue under the senior presidential secretary position.

A special account on responses to the demographic crisis will be made to ensure a stable budget for projects and programs designed to boost the fertility rate.

“Today, I officially declare a demographic national emergency. We will activate a pan-government comprehensive response system until the low birth rate issue is overcome,” Yoon said, asking for the National Assembly’s cooperation to establish the envisioned ministry as soon as possible.

However, it remains to be seen how the government will be able to secure additional budgets for a special appropriation and new projects, and which policy measures would help reverse, or
even slow down, the downtrend.

“The new measures do not include ways of encouraging young people to opt to get married. The government also appears to be short-sighted as it set a goal of boosting the fertility rate within Yoon’s term,” a researcher at a demographic research center of Seoul National University said.

Jeong Eun-soo, a father of two in Seoul, said what is needed the most is more fundamental changes in the country’s labor system and a social environment that allows flexible work arrangements.

“My wife worked at a small-sized, short-staffed company and she was not able to freely take maternity leave for our second child,” Jeong said. “She eventually quit the job last year, and she has often said that she will never recommend our daughter to have babies when she grows up.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

PUERTO PRINCESA: The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (A.F.P) leadership said it was the ‘reckless and illegal’ actions of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) that caused injury to several Philippine Navy (PN) personnel while delivering fresh supplies to the crew of the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal at the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The A.F.P leadership emphasized, however, that PN personnel exercised great restraint during Monday’s confrontation with the CCG, which is why the incident did not deteriorate any further despite the theft and vandalization of Philippine government equipment.

In a press conference here on Wednesday, A.F.P Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. maintained that the morale of Philippine troops protecting the West Philippine Sea (WPS) remains high despite escalating hostility from Chinese forces, which caused serious injury to one Filipino soldier and lesser injuries to at least seven others.

‘They had no right to hijack and destroy Philippine vessels operating within our exclusive ec
onomic zone. This behavior resulted in severe injuries to one of our Navy personnel and stands as a stark violation of international maritime law, Philippine sovereignty, and sovereign rights,’ he said.

Brawner said the core of the problem in the WPS is the continued presence and activities of Chinese vessels inside Philippine territory.

He emphasized that the ‘continued aggressive behavior of the Chinese coast guard is what escalates tensions in the area.’

The A.F.P chief noted that earlier on Wednesday, he visited the PN personnel directly involved in the interrupted rotation and reprovisioning (RoRe) mission on Monday, including the Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) soldier who lost a finger during the scuffle with Chinese troops, who he identified only as Seaman 1st class Facundo.

Brawner said all the soldiers involved in the mission were awarded medals for their bravery.

During the same press briefing, Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres, Jr., who heads the Western Command (Wescom), said the CCG perso
nnel were able to seize the weapons and puncture the rubber boats of the PN personnel because Philippine troops involved in RORE missions are required to keep their firearms in gun cases to deescalate an often tense situation.

‘One of our guidance when it comes to the conduct of RoRe is no firearms will be handed or shown by our personnel to the CCG personnel, and we are doing that to avoid misperception that we are conducting an armed operation,’ he explained.

Torres pointed out that the CCG took advantage of the Philippine troops’ restraint to ‘loot’ their firearms and destroy their boats.

However, despite the foreigners’ aggression, ‘our personnel observed firmness, patience, and resilience when they were illegally boarded by the Chinese coast guard,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

An early heat wave scorched most of South Korea on Wednesday, with some regions logging record high daytime temperatures of up to 40 C and issuing heat wave advisories, the state weather agency said.

Gyeongju, a city in North Gyeongsang Province, some 275 kilometers southeast of Seoul, had registered a daytime temperature of 37.7 C as of 3 p.m., the hottest for June since 2010, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

The southwestern city of Gwangju recorded 37.2 C, wiping out the previous record high June temperature of 36.7 C after 66 years.

The central city of Daejeon saw its temperature rise to 36.1 C, with other counties like Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province, Euiseong in North Gyeongsang Province and Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, hitting record highs of over 36 C.

A county in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, saw the temperature hit nearly 40 C at one point during the day.

“I’ve spent 30 years of my life in Ilsan and never been this hot in June,” a 71-year-old man, who onl
y identified himself by his surname, Min, told Yonhap News Agency.

Many people on the streets were seen trying to avoid the torrid heat, with city restaurants selling cold noodles getting packed with customers at lunch time.

The first summer heat wave advisory was issued for Seoul, and for the surrounding metropolitan areas, excluding Incheon, west of the capital.

A heat wave advisory is issued when the highest apparent temperature is expected to be 33 C or higher for two or more consecutive days. It is also issued when significant damage is expected due to a sudden increase in apparent temperatures or prolonged heat wave conditions.

An increasing number of heat-related illnesses has been reported since May 20, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The number of such patients came to 223 nationwide on Tuesday, up 79.8 percent from the same period last year.

Seoul and regional governments said they are taking preventive measures to minimize any damage from heat-related incidents.

T
he advisory took effect in 92 regions in total across the country, with the KMA pointing to the influence of high atmospheric pressure and the warm westerly wind in bringing up temperatures higher compared to average years.

While the heat wave will continue to affect the central regions, thick clouds and rainfall will lower temperatures in the southern regions and the southern island of Jeju on Thursday.

On Jeju, monsoon rain will start pouring later in the day, and it is expected to continue until Friday morning. The island was expected to receive between 50 and 100 millimeters of rain, according to the KMA.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Financial technology firm Salmon Group Ltd. said on Wednesday it is eyeing a significant increase in its loan portfolio in the next three to five years.

“What I can share is where we want to be in three to five years. We want to have a USD2 billion loan portfolio. So that’s like PHP100 billion loan portfolio. And then a USD200 million annual net income from the Philippines alone or PHP10 billion in net income,” Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa’s chairman and Salmon’s co-founder Raffy Montemayor said in a briefing at the Century Park Hotel in Manila.

In January this year, the fintech firm acquired a 59.7-percent controlling stake in the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Inc.

“We closed the sale in January this year and the past few months, we’ve been integrating the bank into our operations,” Montemayor said.

Following the acquisition, Montemayor said the bank’s total deposits rose by 439 percent, reaching PHP440 million in May 2024, up from PHP82 million in the same period last year.

This growth in deposit
s is largely driven by the bank’s time deposit rates, including its 8.88-percent interest rate per annum for time deposits exceeding PHP500,000 for a 12-month term.

The bank has deployed these new deposits to acquire installment loans and cash loans from Sunprime Finance Inc., its sister company that lends to underserved and underbanked Filipinos.

As a result, the bank’s loan portfolio increased by 648 percent to PHP400 million from PHP54 million in May 2023, while year-to-date revenue also rose to PHP66 million.

“We are off to a strong start in building a robust financial institution by improving the bank’s products and services and enhancing our customer experience across both offline and online channels,” Montemayor said.

Montemayor said the increase in deposits and profitable loans will allow them to scale up operations.

Salmon also injected fresh capital into the bank so that it can invest in technology and in people to prepare for its mobile app and debit card launch, which is slated for the second
half of this year, subject to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approval.

This capital injection led to the bank’s equity climbing to PHP385 million in June, a 1,075-percent increase year-on-year.

The bank also applied to the BSP for an increase in its authorized capital to PHP1.2 billion to further expand its financial services offerings and enhance its technology and branch infrastructure to support long-term growth.

The Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa which currently has two branches located in Bacoor, Cavite and in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, will also have three additional branches next year. These will be located in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao or Cagayan de Oro.

“We expect that to happen by next year. I would say first half of next year is our target,” Montemayor said.

Salmon and the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa are supported by the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group; Northstar Group, a Singapore-headquartered private equity and venture capital fund manager; ADQ, the sovereign wealth f
und of Abu Dhabi; and other international and Filipino investors.

Founded in July 2022, Salmon leverages artificial intelligence-enabled technology and a proprietary credit engine to offer consumer loans such as Salmon Credit, Salmon Installment, and Salmon Cash Loans.

Source: Philippines News Agency

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed “full support” Wednesday for Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow as he held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang amid deepening concerns about their military cooperation.

Kim said relations between the two countries are “entering a new period of prosperity,” praising Russia’s role in the global strategic balance and vowing to “strengthen strategic cooperation” with Russia, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

“The government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea … expresses its full support and solidarity with the Russian government, Army and people in conducting the special military operation in Ukraine with a view to protecting sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity,” Kim was quoted as saying.

Putin expressed gratitude to Kim for Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s policy on Ukraine and also voiced hope to hold the next summit with Kim in Moscow, TASS reporte
d.

After the summit, Putin and Kim signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” to bolster bilateral ties, Russian news reports said, without disclosing details.

The Russian leader earlier said a new “fundamental document” has been prepared to serve as a basis for relations between the two countries.

The two leaders met again nine months after they held a summit in Russia’s Far East last September, as Russia, under international sanctions over its war with Ukraine, has been bolstering military and other cooperation with North Korea.

Putin arrived in North Korea early Wednesday on his first trip to the reclusive country in 24 years. Ahead of the summit, an official welcoming ceremony was held at Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang.

Since the Kim-Putin summit last year, the two nations have been bolstering military ties, with the North being accused of supplying Russia with ammunition for use in Moscow’s war in Ukraine in exchange for aid and suspected technological assistance for its space pr
ogram.

Experts said Putin’s trip will likely pave the way for the two countries to deepen military cooperation beyond arms transactions while cementing their solidarity against the United States.

Analysts said Kim and Putin are expected to adopt a joint declaration that calls for both sides to elevate the level of military, security and economic cooperation but saw a low possibility of them clinching a treaty akin to a military alliance.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance in 1961. The treaty included a provision for so-called automatic military intervention, under which if one side is under an armed attack, the other provides military troops and other aid without hesitation.

North Korea and Russia signed a new treaty of bilateral ties in 2000, but it did not contain such a provision as it centered on cooperation in the economy, science and culture.

Experts said North Korea and Russia are expected to highlight cooperation in the economic sector as a
ny arms deals and military cooperation violate United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

In an article published Tuesday by the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s main newspaper, Putin vowed to build alternative systems for trade and settlements with North Korea that will not be controlled by the West and jointly resist “illegal and unilateral restrictions” in an apparent reference to international sanctions.

Experts said Russia is expected to assist North Korea’s space development program in exchange for Pyongyang’s arms supplies, but it is not likely to transfer sensitive weapons technology to Pyongyang.

In late May, North Korea’s attempt to launch a military spy satellite ended in failure as a satellite-carrying rocket exploded right after liftoff. In November last year, North Korea successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit, and it has a plan to launch three more such satellites in 2024.

The two leaders could discuss the issue of North Korea’s dis
patch of its workers at the summit, experts said. The North has a desperate need to earn foreign currency due to international sanctions, while Russia has been facing a labor shortage amid its war with Ukraine.

Source: Yonhap News Agency