The Daily News WE TELL IT LIKE IT IS Phil. Copyright 2002 Vol. 16 No. 12 January 23, 2015 WEATHER FORECAST METRO MANILA 23°C to 31°C The Nation CEBU 25°C to 29°C DAVAO 22°C to 31°C More probing against Vice President Binay …as tax evasion raps filed against Currency Currency 1 Peso in COUNTRY Antonio Tiu in Peso in US$1 Currency DOE Chief, 6 others re-appointed to US (dollar) 44.4960 1.0000 0.0225 posts Japan (yen) 0.3777 0.0085 2.6476 UK (pound) 67.3847 1.5144 0.0148 Hong Kong (dollar) 5.7398 0.1290 0.1742 The Economy and Business 0.1610 0.1396 Hunger situation improves in 2014 China (yuan) 7.1635 Net outflow posted for hot money Canada (dollar) 36.0759 0.8108 0.0277 BOC crackdown on importers of Australia (dollar) 36.3946 0.8179 0.0275 canned meat products New Zealand (dollar) 34.2356 0.7694 0.0292 EMU (euro) 51.6554 1.1609 0.0194 Corporate Briefs PESO–DOLLAR RATE Philippine Airlines Inc. postpones 30 trading days to January 22, 2015 delivery of 40 aircrafts Open: P 44.360 International Container Terminal 43.50 Close: P 44.320 Services Inc. unit completes tender 44.00 offering High: P 44.300 Del Monte Pacific Ltd. Shelves plan 44.50 to raise $360Mn from sales of Low: P 44.440 preferred shares 45.00 W.A.: P 44.361 45.50 Vol.: 683.20 Mn PSE COMPOSITE INDEX 30 trading days to January 22, 2015 Open: 7,475.09 High: 7,475.09 7700 7500 Low: 7,400.03 7300 7100 Close: 7,416.31 6900 6700 Index: 7,416.31 6500 6300 Vol.: 4.060 Bn 6100 Val.: 19.799 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 website1 at www.wallacebusinessforum.com. The Nation More probing against Vice President Binay The ongoing probe on corruption allegations against Vice President Jejomar Binay is expected to last longer after a senator filed a resolution that sought to investigate another supposedly questionable transaction involving the official, a government-controlled body and a private company. On Thursday, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed Senate Resolution 1114, directing the Senate blue ribbon committee to conduct a probe on the alleged irregular transactions entered into by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), a government-owned and -controlled corporation, and real estate development firm Alphaland Corp. According to former Makati City vice- mayor Ernesto Mercado, star witness of the blue ribbon committee in its probe on Mr. Binay, the Vice President reportedly received millions of pesos in kickbacks from the deal, initially amounting to P188,973,460. During a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing on Thursday, Mr. Mercado, a former political ally of Vice President Binay, said that the deal was reached in 2010, when a piece of land owned by the BSP in the business district of Makati City was used as a collateral by Alphaland to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to get a P1.7-billion loan. …as tax evasion raps filed against Antonio Tiu The businessman who claimed ownership of a 350-hectare farm alleged to be owned by Vice President Jejomar Binay in Batangas is facing a P73.34-million tax evasion case before the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accused Mr. Antonio Tiu of substantial under-declaration of income for 2008 and 2013 to avoid payment of taxes. Mr. Tiu had claimed ownership of the sprawling 350-hectare “Hacienda Binay” in Rosario town. He found himself immersed in more trouble after allegedly racking up more than P73 million in tax debt in 2008 and 2013. Mr. Tiu is chairman of publicly listed companies AgriNurture Inc. and Greenergy Holdings Inc. BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said Mr. Tiu had a total tax deficiency of P73.34 million inclusive of penalties and surcharges. Sought for comment, Mr. Tiu described the filing of the tax case as “unfair, premature and unfounded.” DOE Chief, 6 others re-appointed to posts President Aquino has reappointed Sec. Carlos Jericho Petilla as energy secretary. Sec. Petilla is the only member of the Aquino Cabinet who has not been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA). Also reappointed were Mr. Arthur Lim as member of the Commission on Elections and Ms. Nieves Osorio as member of the Civil Service Commission. 6 ambassadors were issued new appointments: Ms. Mary Jo Aragon (Thailand and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), Ms. Maria Zenaida Angara Collinson (Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic), Ms. Maria Teresita Daza (India and Nepal), Mr. Alfonso Ver (Bahrain), Mr. Pedro Renato Villa (Kuwait), and Ms. Lourdes Yparraguierre (United Nations in New York). The CA bypassed the appointees when Congress went on its month-long Christmas break last Dec. 19, prompting President Aquino to reappoint them. Their papers have been submitted to the CA. Not in the list of appointees Malacañang has sent to the appointments commission for confirmation is acting Health Secretary Janette Garin, who has replaced resigned secretary Enrique Ona. The Economy & Business Hunger situation improves in 2014 The ranks of those who went hungry thinned last quarter -- with a significant decline tracked in Luzon -- helping to bring hunger nationwide in 2014 to the lowest point in 7 years, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in a new report. But while state officials pointed to the results as proof government’s anti-poverty effort was making headway, one analyst described any improvement as “insignificant.” Results of a Nov. 27- Dec. 1, 2014 survey among 1,800 adults nationwide -- with sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages; ±6% each for Metro Manila, “Balance Luzon” and Mindanao; and ±3% for the Visayas -- found 17.2% of respondents, equivalent to an estimated 3.8 million families, saying they experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past 3 months. The 4th quarter result was 4.8 points below the 22% (estimated 4.8 million families) recorded in the September survey. While last year’s average hunger rate was the lowest annual result since 2007’s 17.9%, it was steady -- slipping just 1.2 points -- from 19.5% in 2013. Net outflow posted for hot money Foreign portfolio investments posted a net outflow last year -- a turnaround from 2013’s inflows -- in the face of the move by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to gradually terminate its massive bond-buying stimulus, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday reported. Hot money -- called so given the ease by which these enter and leave the country -- posted a net outflow of $310 million last year, which was a turnaround from the $4.224- billion net inflow seen at end-2013. “The investment flows reflected investor reaction to the tapering of the quantitative easing program of the United States,” BSP said in a statement. Last October, the Fed ended its 2 massive asset purchasing program that had kept the world’s biggest economy afloat since the 2008 global financial crisis. Market volatility is expected to persist as investors try to second-guess the Fed’s next step: an increase in policy rate. BOC crackdown on importers of canned meat products The Bureau of Customs (BOC) started its crackdown on importers of canned meat products which deliberately undervalue their goods to avoid taxes. Based on the government’s latest TaxWatch campaign advertisement, the BOC zeroed in on unscrupulous importers of Palm, Hereford, Hormel, Libby’s and Pampeano corned beef. The BOC cited the ridiculously low import values declared by some importers at P3 to P4 per can when the retail prices of these products range from P122 to P200 each. It identified Federated Distributors Inc. which declared an import value of only P3.89 for a 326 gram can of Palm corned beef. This product is being retailed at P173 to P200 in supermarkets. In contrast, the BOC noted that Duty Free Philippines Corp. declared a can of Palm as P103.50. Federated Distributors likewise was found to have undervalued imports of Libby’s and Hereford. The declared value for each can was only P3.18 for Hereford and P4.34 for Libby’s. Corporate Briefs Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) has decided to extend the delivery of close to 40 aircraft by 4 years…PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters yesterday at the airline’s headquarters in Pasay City that it has deferred the delivery of the aircraft to 2024 instead of 2020…Bautista said the airline is supposed to take the delivery of the remaining 38 Airbus A321 aircraft until 2020…a unit of port giant International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has completed a tender offer involving $350 million worth of outstanding debt launched last Jan. 12…ICTSI treasury director Arthur Tabuena informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that $229.841 million worth of securities of ICTSI’s Royal Capital BV were tendered during the offer period that ended last Jan. 21…Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) has decided to temporarily shelve a plan to raise $360 million from the sale of preferred shares, citing unfavorable market conditions…the bridge loan from Banco de Oro (BDO), according to the company, was used to partially fund its acquisition of Del Monte Food Corp.’s food consumer business in February last year. Word‐for‐Word Philippine Star columnist Boo Chanco wrote: It has finally happened.