Daily News Have Been Culled from Various Media Sources

THE

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WEATHER FORECAST

The Nation METRO MANILA 24°C to 31°C • PH prepares for outcome of U.S. – S. Korea Moderate Northeast drill Manila Bay: Moderate

• PCSO integrity to be protected Currency Currency in 1 Peso in • Search for new Comelec chief COUNTRY in Peso US$1 Currency • Palace submits version of 'amnesty' EXCHA NGE RAT E US (dollar) 44.1260 1.0000 0.0227

Japan (yen) 0.5284 0.0120 1.8925

UK (pound) 69.6308 1.5780 0.0144 The Economy and Business Hong Kong (dollar) 5.6874 0.1289 0.1758

Canada (dollar) 43.6761 0.9898 0.0229 • GDP growth slows to 6.5% in 3Q Australia (dollar) 43.3185 0.9817 0.0231

• Tax effort slips to 13.2% New Zealand (dollar) 33.6326 0.7622 0.0297 • Gov’t borrowings up 35% in 10 months EMU (euro) 58.8288 1.3332 0.0170 • P-Noy signs complete set of new peso bills PESO–DOLLAR RATE • Bank-to-bank remittance settlement now / 30 trading days to November 25, 2010 possible 42.00 Open: P 44.020

42.50 Close: P 44.080 Corporate Briefs 43.00 High: P 43.980 • SK Lubricants (Korea) & SK Techno-lube Corp. to launch new line of products Low: P 44.150 43.50

• Forum Energy Plc seals $10-M facility to W.A.: P 44.093 fund exploration works in Palawan 44.00 Vol: 873.69 M • Shareholders of Filinvest Development 44.50 Corp. okay plan to raise capital stock

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX 30 trading days to November 25, 2010

4450 Open: 4,125.92

Close: 4,097.49 4350 High: 4,157.68 4250 Low: 4,089.75

4150 Index: 4,097.49

Vol: 1.098 B 4050

Val: P5.346 B 3950

Disclaimer: The articles in this Daily News have been culled from various media sources. We cannot, therefore, vouch for the accuracy of what is reported.

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THE NATION

PH prepares for outcome of U.S. - S. Korea drill The Philippines is worried that a joint United States-South Korea military exercise scheduled on Sunday might heighten tensions in the region and stir anxieties among civilians, including Filipino workers in the Korean peninsula. “The coming exercise is creating anxiety because we have so many OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). This is the uncertain factor in the equation today,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said. Last Tuesday, North Korea shelled a tiny South Korean island, killing 4 people and burning 19 houses. In preparation, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) board has initially set aside P25 million as part of contingency measures. Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said they were ready to help evacuate 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea in the event of a full-blown war.

PCSO integrity to be protected Malacañang justified its decision to return the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to the Office of the President (OP) as it vowed to protect the integrity of the agency. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the PCSO had always been an attached agency of the OP because of its complementary concerns such as charity and games of chance. “Only (former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) played around with the PCSO, transferring it to the (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and then (the Department of Health),” Lacierda said. “PCSO is governed by a board and attachment (to the Office of the President) is only for coordination. Attachment is logical because of coordination with such OP functions as the (Presidential Social Fund),” Lacierda said. Lacierda also said the Aquino administration was bent on protecting the agency from anomalies. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said they acted on the request of PCSO chair Margarita Juico to put the agency back to OP.

Search for new Comelec chief Malacañang has activated its search committee to scout for the replacement of Jose Melo following his resignation as chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III issued the order to the search committee after accepting the resignation of Melo. The President also ordered the committee to scout for other people to fill the 2 vacancies in the poll body. Melo’s resignation will be effective Jan. 31, cutting short his term as Comelec chief which is until 2015. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda confirmed Melo had a meeting with the President but did not elaborate. Mr. Aquino, for his part, is also mum on whether he offered Melo a new post after he was told by the Comelec chairman of his plan to retire from government service. Melo, however, clarified that he resigned, and not filed for early retirement. He noted that he could not avail of any of the benefits of retiring.

Palace submits version of 'amnesty' Malacañang submitted to the Senate yesterday the amended version of Proclamation 50 seeking to grant amnesty to former soldiers and policemen implicated in mutinies against former President Gloria Arroyo. Proclamation 75 was transmitted to the Senate less than a week after Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. informed Sen. Teofisto Guingona III of his intention to withdraw Proclamation 50.Proclamation 75 addressed various “flaws” that lawmakers raised during a hearing at the House of Representatives. Proclamation 75 states that the amnesty shall take effect upon concurrence of a majority of all the members of Congress. Under Proclamation 50, it was to take effect immediately upon the signing by President Aquino. Sen. Guingona, Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation chairman, said Proclamation 50 was most likely lifted from Proclamation 80 issued by President Corazon Aquino during the revolutionary government set up immediately after the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. At that time, Aquino exercised legislative powers, he added. Proclamation 75 specifies the ranks of soldiers and policemen eligible to apply for amnesty, which was not stated in Proclamation 50.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

GDP growth slows to 6.5% in 3Q The local economy expanded by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter from a year ago, below market expectations and slower than the growth in the first half, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the July to September period was below the revised 8.2% and 7.8% expansions recorded in the second and first quarters, respectively. The third-quarter figure brought the average GDP growth for the first 9 months to 7.5%, well above the full-year government target of 5-6%. NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola, however, pointed out that the GDP expansion booked in the first quarter of President Aquino was the fastest compared to the comparable period during the terms of President Fidel Ramos, President Joseph Estrada, and President Gloria Arroyo.

Tax effort slips to 13.2% The government’s tax effort slipped as the pace of the growth of collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) failed to match the expansion of the economy as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), the Department of Finance (DOF) reported. Data released by the DOF yesterday showed that the government’s tax effort slipped to 13.28% of GDP in the first 9 months of the year from 13.39% of GDP in the same period last year. The government’s tax effort refers to the ratio between tax collections and the domestic economy as measured by the GDP. Taxes collected by the government from January to September this year totaled P798.3 billion or 13.28% of the nominal GDP of P6.083 trillion from January to October this year from P722.4 billion or 13.39% of the nominal GDP of P5.463 trillion in the same period last year.

Gov't borrowings up 35% in 10 months Total government borrowings jumped 35% in the first 10 months of the year as the Philippines borrowed more from both foreign and domestic creditors to plug the country’s ballooning budget deficit, data from the Bureau of Treasury showed. The government borrowed P701.7 billion from January to October this year or P180.54 billion higher than the P521.16 billion it borrowed in the same period last year. Borrowings from domestic creditors surged 57% to P457.73 billion in the first 10 months of the year from P291.57 billion after the successful issuance of overseas Filipino workers’ bonds worth P22.3 billion in April and retail treasury bonds (RTBs) amounting to P97.5 billion in August. Furthermore, the Treasury issued P394.54 billion worth of 91, 182, and 364-day Treasury bills (T-bills) but redeemed only P463.74 billion worth of the same government papers from January to October. It also issued P407.13 billion worth of 3, 4, 5, 7, 10-, 20-, and 25-year year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) during the period. On the other hand, data released by the treasury showed that borrowings from foreign sources inched up by 6.3% to P243.97 billion from P229.59 billion.

P-Noy signs complete set of new peso bills President Aquino signed yesterday a complete set of Philippine peso bills that will be in circulation for the next 3 to 4 years while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to launch a new set of “redesigned” denominations by December. Fe dela Cruz of BSP’s corporate affairs office said the next batch of P500 bills would still have the face of slain martyr Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., but this would now include that of his wife, the late President Cory. Both are deemed democracy icons. The BSP official said the current set of peso bills – 1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50 and 20 – would still be legal tender until they are all demonetized. Yesterday’s event was just the signing of bank notes by President Aquino with the old design, which will now carry his signature, while the December activity will be the launching of the redesigned and much more secure peso bills, but the colors will remain the same.

Bank-to-bank remittance settlement now possible Twelve banks have completed their migration to the central bank’s electronic payments system for interbank remittance transfers -- a development that would put a stop to the “courier system” that was expensive and risky. In Circular Letter No. 080 signed on November 23, 2010, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the 12 banks have begun to use the Philippine Payments and Settlements System, or PhilPaSS REMIT System, since October for interbank remittance transfers. The 12 are: Allied Banking Corp., Asia United Bank, Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Philippine National Bank, Philippine Savings Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and United Coconut Planters Bank. Using PhilPaSS means the banks do away with couriers who used to deposit remittances in other banks, where the relatives of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) maintain accounts.

CORPORATE BRIEFS

SK Lubricants (Korea) and SK Techno-lube Corp. set will launch tomorrow a new line of products at The EDSA Shangri-La Hotel…the event will be attended by various car manufacturers/ distributors/ dealers and special guests of Timmy G. Tan, chairman of SK-Techno-lube Corp., and executives from SK Lubricants of the Republic of Korea…Forum Energy Plc has sealed a $10-million facility to fund its exploration works in West Palawan…Forum Energy said its subsidiary, Forum Philippines Holdings Ltd., inked the facility agreement with the company’s principal shareholder, Philex Mining Corp…shareholders of Filinvest Development Corp. approved yesterday the company’s plan to raise its capital stock from P10 billion to P17 billion…the new capitalization consists of 5 billion common shares and 2 billion preferred shares, all with a par value of P1…the shareholders also approved the placement of 3 billion FDC shares owned by ALG Holdings Corp., of taipan Adrew Gotianun which owns 76.7% of FDC…FDC will issue the same amount of shares to ALG Holdings.

WORD-FOR-WORD

Business Mirror Editorial says:

“Manila may have had good reason to resent the simultaneous travel advisories issued by 5 countries alerting their citizens of the perils (specifically on “terrorism-related” intelligence) of traveling to these parts, but a sixth country that later issued its own advisory seems to have had a more pragmatic grasp of the situation.

The Japanese advisory instead focused on the spate of crimes in the Philippines in the past months, especially in the capital region, Metro Manila. These come to mind: the cases of robbery and carjacking syndicates trailing arriving passengers and their well-wishers right from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and then bumping or blocking their vehicles to force them to stop and debark, and then seizing the vehicles after ransacking their belongings. In several cases, protesting victims were shot, ending up dead or seriously wounded.

Then there are the gruesome cases of killings, break-ins and petty theft, not to mention the real, constant risk to life and limb from road accidents considering the country’s high incidence of road crashes. Foreigners have figured among the casualties in several high-profile accidents in recent months, notably the one in Cebu, where 21 Iranians died, and Benguet. And then, of course, there are the legendary risks in interisland sea and air travel, which authorities have been trying to reduce since time immemorial.

So, really, the Japanese have focused on the right concerns: as against intelligence chatter of terrorist risks that may often remain unverified, the statistics on crime and accidents are real.

Which brings us to the resolution: If this country really wants to lure tourists and investors, all those aviation reforms (open skies, better airports, better tour programs) will mean nothing if people don’t feel safe in the Philippines. It’s as simple as that.”