The Daily News Phil. Copyright 2002 WE TELL IT LIKE IT IS WEATHER FORECAST Vol. 15 No. 90 May 16, 2014 METRO MANILA 26°C to 36°C CEBU 26°C to 33°C DAVAO 25°C to 32°C The Nation Senate receives signed Napoles list Currency in Currency 1 Peso in COUNTRY Aseanapol adopting proposals vs Peso in US$1 Currency transnational crimes US (dollar) 43.6270 1.0000 0.0229 Japan (yen) 0.4284 0.0098 2.3343 Sandigan freezes Corona assets UK (pound) 73.1620 1.6770 0.0137 China reef ‘reclamation’ seen 5.6283 0.1290 0.1777 Hong Kong (dollar) 0.1605 0.1428 China (yuan) 7.0040 Canada (dollar) 40.1057 0.9193 0.0249 The Economy and Business Australia (dollar) 40.8952 0.9374 0.0245 37.7821 0.8660 0.0265 Remittances up 6.9% in March New Zealand (dollar) EMU (euro) 59.8388 1.3704 0.0167 Government remains aloof to new taxes ‘Hot money’ returns in April PESO–DOLLAR RATE 30 trading days to May 16, 2014 Farm output flat in 1st quarter Open: P 43.620 House okays entry of foreign banks 42.00 Close: P 43.660 42.50 43.00 High: P 43.580 43.50 Corporate Briefs 44.00 Low: P 43.720 44.50 Terra Motors raises $10Mn to make PH its 45.00 W.A.: P 43.646 production hub 45.50 46.00 Revenues of Asian Terminal Inc. up 30% in Vol.: 795.80 Mn 1Q Hedcor Inc. opens new hydropower plants PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Open: 6,879.63 30 trading days to May 15, 2014 High: 6,895.96 7,300.00 7,100.00 Low: 6,842.42 6,900.00 6,700.00 Close: 6,849.33 6,500.00 6,300.00 Index: 6,849.33 6,100.00 5,900.00 Vol.: 2.076 Bn 5,700.00 Val.: 13.779 Bn 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. For more information on the WBF, you can call 810-96-06 to 09, or visit our website at www.wallacebusinessforum.com. 1 The Nation Senate receives signed Napoles list Justice Secretary Leila de Lima submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee yesterday the list signed by Ms. Janet Napoles containing the names of over 80 lawmakers allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam. To end speculation on the names, committee chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona III and vice chairman Sen. Sergio Osmeña III released the so-called “Napolist” after a closed-door conference with Sec. De Lima in Sen. Guingona’s office yesterday. It was the same list Napoles signed and handed to Sec. De Lima on April 22 at the Ospital ng Makati before Ms. Napoles underwent surgery to remove a cyst in her ovary. Ms. Napoles also affixed 2 thumb marks on the document. On the list are Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Koko Pimentel III, Manny Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gringo Honasan, Francis Escudero and the late Sen. Robert Barbers. Former Batanes congressman and now Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, as well as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority head Joel Villanueva, were also included in the list. The list also included the names of 69 incumbent and former congressmen as well as those of alleged conduits for the implementing agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, National Livelihood Development Corp., Technology Resource Center and National Agribusiness Corp. Aseanapol adopting proposals vs transnational crimes The heads of national police forces of ASEAN member-countries are adopting proposals of the International Criminal Police Organization-International Police (ICPO-Interpol) to combat transnational criminal threats. At the 34th ASEANAPOL closing ceremony at the Sofitel hotel yesterday, they also agreed to adopt a plan of action for joint response to crisis situations and address transnational criminal threats, specifically in Southeast Asia, said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima. A joint communiqué ratified by the delegates encourages all ASEANAPOL members to share regional knowledge and skills to deal with specific crime areas of terrorism, human trafficking and drug trafficking. Sandigan freezes Corona assets The Sandiganbayan has ordered a freeze on the assets of former chief justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina valued at approximately P130.5 million, which are the subject of a forfeiture case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman more than a month ago. Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, who chairs the anti-graft court’s 2nd division, signed the 2-page writ of preliminary attachment on May 5 and gave Sandiganbayan sheriff IV Alexander Valencia 30 days to enforce the order and submit a report with a full inventory of the properties. The Sandiganbayan said the freezing of the Corona couple’s assets is in order, “considering that adequate bases exist which satisfy the requirements set forth under Rule 57 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.” The freeze order seeks to ensure that if it is proven that the Coronas did acquire the wealth illegally, the same will be recovered by the state in full. Mr. Corona said the Sandiganbayan’s freeze order did not come as a surprise. China reef ‘reclamation’ seen The Philippines yesterday released photographs to back its claim that China was reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the South China Sea in an apparent effort to build an airstrip. Manila warned on Wednesday that China may be building an airstrip on the Chinese-held Johnson South Reef -- claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam - - boosting the superpower’s claim to most of the strategic Asian waters. A series of photographs released by the Foreign Affairs department yesterday appeared to show large-scale reclamation in stages. The latest photograph dated March 11, 2014 appears to show a large light-colored landfill, surrounded by shallow turquoise waters. “This series of photographs... from Philippine intelligence sources, shows in stages the extensive reclamation by China on Mabini Reef (Johnson South Reef),” the Foreign Affairs department said in a statement. “These actions are considered destabilizing and in violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and international law,” it said, asserting that the reef was “part of Philippine territory”. The Economy & Business Remittances up 6.9% in March Personal remittances continued to rise in March, registering a 6.9% growth to $2.1 billion from a year ago due to robust remittance flows from both land and sea-based overseas Filipino workers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central) reported yesterday. This brought the cumulative remittances for the first 3 months of the year to $6.085 billion. “The steady increase in personal remittances during the first 3 months of the year was driven by strong growth in remittance flows from both land-based workers with long-term contracts (which increased by 4.5%) and sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts (which jumped 10.9%),” the central bank said. Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks rose 6.5% to $1.883 billion in March from last year’s level. The central bank said money sent home by land-based workers went up 2 4.5% to $4.1 billion in the first 3 months of the year, while those sent by sea-based workers climbed 10.9% to $1.4 million. Government remains aloof to new taxes More than halfway into its 6-year term, the Aquino government remains keen on increasing revenue collection via reforms in administration and existing regimes rather than new taxes, 2 state economic managers said this week. And as it continues to wait for Congress to act on bills seeking to raise taxes from mining and rationalization of fiscal incentives, the government is focused on improving collection efficiency and disciplining tax delinquents, the same officials said. “We stick to what [President Benigno Aquino III] has said: that we close the holes in the tax net so we make sure we maximize the potential first...,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said. The International Monetary Fund has urged the government to legislate measures that would broaden the tax base further, citing moves for incentives rationalization, customs modernization and adjustments in the current mining tax regime. Pres. Aquino has given the “go signal” to laws that will increase government revenue from mining and another that will rationalize the grant of fiscal perks to investors, Budget Secretary Abad said. ‘Hot money’ returns in April The country saw net inflows of foreign portfolio investments last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) reported yesterday, snapping the streak of monthly net outflows since December. “Transactions in April 2014 for registered foreign portfolio investments yielded net inflows of $324 million, an improvement from last month’s net outflows of $92 million,” the central bank said in a press release. April saw net inflows of “hot money” -- called so given the ease by which these funds enter and leave the country -- despite the country bagging a smaller amount of foreign portfolio investments in March. “While registered investments of $1.9 billion were lower by 12.1% compared to the previous month’s $2.1 billion, outflows declined to $1.5 billion from $2.2 billion in March 2014,” the regulator explained. The central bank reported a net outflow for the 4th straight month in March, as the US Federal Reserve continued to wind down its massive stimulus program. The March net outflow of “hot money” was at $91.51 million.