THE PHILIPPINES has emerged as among the world’s most promising destinations of foreign investments in the next three years, according to the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTD).
In its World Investment Report 2016, UNCTD said the US, China and India remain the top destinations of investments by multinational enterprises (MNEs) between this year and 2018. However, the US, which since last year has shown signs of economic recovery, displaced China in this year’s UNCTD survey among executives belonging to the 100 biggest non-financial MNEs.
China was the top choice when the UNCTD last held its survey in 2014, or before the world’s second largest economy showed signs of slowing down.
The Philippines joined the top 15 destinations, placing eighth, along with Australia, France and Malaysia, which in the previous survey round ranked 14th.
The report recognized the “noteworthy measures” of the Philippines to liberalize foreign investments, particularly in removing the foreign ownership restriction on lending firms, investment houses, and financing companies, as well as reducing the number of professions reserved for nationals.
Another Southeast Asian economy new on the list is Myanmar, which ranked ninth along with Vietnam, which in turn rose from the 18th spot during the 2014 survey round.
Seven of the top 15 choice locations belong to emerging Asia, of which 5 came from Southeast Asia, with Indonesia steaming ahead on seventh place, and like Malaysia was on the 14th spot in 2014.
FDI FLOWS SURGE IN 2015
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in 2015 surged by 38 per cent to $1.76 trillion, the world’s highest level since the global economic and financial crisis of 2008 -- 2009, UNCTD said, adding that the growth rode on the increase of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to $721 billion, nearly 67% higher than the $432 billion in 2014.
Inward FDI flows to developed economies reached $962 billion, the UNCTD said.
“As a result, developed economies tipped the balance back in their favour with 55% of global FDI, up from 41% in 2014. Strong growth in inflows was reported in Europe. In the United States FDI almost quadrupled, albeit from a historically low level in 2014.”
Developing economies drew $765 billion of FDI inflows, or 9% higher than in 2014, as said economies continue to compose half of the top 10 destinations of FDI flows.
Developing Asia remains the largest FDI recipient region globally, with inflows amounting to $541 billion, or a 16% increase.
Going forward, UNCTD expects FDI flows to decline around 10%-15% this year, mirroring the “fragility of the global economy, persistent weakness of aggregate demand, sluggish growth in some commodity exporting countries, effective policy measures to curb tax inversion deals and a slump in MNE profits.”
Growth is expected to get back on track in 2017, with UNCTD predicting FDI flows to go beyond $1.8 trillion in 2018. -- Roy Stephen C. Canivel
source: Businessworld
20 June 2016
US govt: Duterte behind the Davao Death Squad
Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte is finally getting the recognition that he’s been seeking – that he is what he is, a tough guy, maybe even a killer. He is now squarely in the radar of the US government.
According to US State Department documents released by Wikileaks, the US government has “solid evidence” that Duterte is responsible for the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in Davao City.
When fellow presidential candidate Grace Poe announced on April 14 that she would appoint Duterte as crime czar if she won the presidency, Washington took notice. “I want to offer to him the position as crime czar because of what he said that he will finish the problems of criminality in six months,” Poe said. This prompted officials and journalists to check their files and dossiers on Duterte.
Solid evidence vs Duterte
What they found was jaw-dropping. Poe’s crime czar is most likely a criminal. Duterte is considered a criminal by the US government. Based on “solid evidence,” the State Department has established that “Mayor Duterte of Davao City is clearly behind a group called the Davao Death Squad.”
What they found was jaw-dropping. Poe’s crime czar is most likely a criminal. Duterte is considered a criminal by the US government. Based on “solid evidence,” the State Department has established that “Mayor Duterte of Davao City is clearly behind a group called the Davao Death Squad.”
This is the shocking revelation of a global investigation outfit, Open Source investigations (ISI), which has specialized in the disclosure of information on important political issues and political personalities, since the group was publicly announced in Sept. 2015 and opened its Facebook page on Dec. 2.
This revelation surpasses in gravity the earlier controversy stirred by Duterte with his vile remarks about the Australian lay missionary rape victim in Davao.
The Open Source report said the US State Department is convinced that Duterte “supports” and “encourages” the extra-judicial killings in Davao City. He is the one who decided “to green light” the Davao Death Squad (DDS).
It was Mayor Duterte himself who privately “acknowledged his active support of the DDS group.” He made the admission during a 2003 meeting with political officers of the US Embassy in Manila. And he did it again, two years later during a conversation with an official from the Embassy of Australia in Manila. Duterte told the Australian officer that “killings were what criminals understood” and that this was “the way things are done here.”
The State Department has “documented evidence of hundreds of vigilante-style killings of civilians in Davao City” since the late ‘90s.
The DDS, a vigilante group “formed by the mayor,” carried out many of the killings. DDS is an underground network made up of former criminals and militants, perpetrating killings in exchange for payment. Victims are “usually street children and petty criminals.”
The State Department said that Duterte should be brought to justice. In its assessment, local police failed to investigate the crimes and protect witnesses. In fact, the Davao police, “who are controlled by the Mayor,” support the killings. The investigations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have been of no avail and the killings have been spreading to other localities
The US has deplored the Davao killings and has privately urged the Philippine government to undertake a thorough investigation.
“A separate investigation into Mayor Duterte’s connection to the killings” should be opened, the US recommended.
Open Source background
Open Source Investigations (OSI) describes itself as an independent initiative that aims to connect common people with the reality behind open scene of politics.
Open Source Investigations (OSI) describes itself as an independent initiative that aims to connect common people with the reality behind open scene of politics.
On its sleek-looking site, which appears well-funded, the group claims that it is composed of “investigative journalists, researchers, fact-checkers, activists, and data experts, who have teamed up to provide in-depth research behind political stories.”
“By supplying non-partisan and precise analyses and investigations, OSI Group website is a source of information that makes citizens more aware of how politics affects their lives,” it said.
Rodrigo Duterte is not alone in attracting the interest and investigative zeal of OSI.
Grace Poe has gotten considerable attention as well.
Biggest secret of Grace Poe’s husband
The latest post of Open Source on Ms. Poe concerns her husband, Teodoro Misael “Neil” Llamanzares.
The latest post of Open Source on Ms. Poe concerns her husband, Teodoro Misael “Neil” Llamanzares.
It disclosed that Neil Llamanzares’ biggest secret is that he is a former contractor of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The report said: “Neil Llamanzares, the potential First Gentleman of the Philippines, is not only an American military man, but also a former US Intelligence contractor. As an employee of the largest private intelligence service in the world, SAIC, Grace Poe’s husband was doing specialized work for NSA, CIA and DIA: tracking foreign communications on the internet, feeding disinformation to the foreign press, integrating classified information gathered by the major US intelligence agencies worldwide.
“At least from 2004 to 2006, as long as he worked for SAIC, the state of the Philippines was one of Neil Llamanzares’s targets.”
The report averred that there was “a partial truth in Grace Poe’s web of lies.”
“Neil Llamanzares did stay in the US until May 2006. He did sell their million-dollar mansion. And he did have very important projects to finish. But both Grace Poe and her husband kept the nature of those important projects secret.
“And that is because the Philippine presidential candidate’s husband is a former US Intelligence contractor.
“Neil Llamanzares stayed in the US to work for the largest private intelligence services in the world, Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC). SAIC has a symbiotic relationship with the National Security Agency (NSA). For years, SAIC was NSA’s largest contractor, earning the nickname “NSA West” inside the intelligence community.
“SAIC also does a huge amount of work for the CIA, where it is among the top five contractors, and is deeply involved in the operations of all the major US intelligence agencies (Defence Intelligence Agency – DIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence – ODNI, National Reconnaissance Office – NRO).
“In March 2007, Donald Barlett and James B. Steele published a profile of SAIC in Vanity Fair. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winners, Barlett and Steele are two of the most important investigation journalists in the history of American media.”
The title of the Barlett-Steele article, “Washington’s $8 Billion Shadow,” shows that SAIC is a very big deal in the intelligence business.
Take a second look at Neil
To the Filipino intelligentsia, Grace Poe may look like a rank amateur, who is out of her depth in running for the presidency. But her husband is no amateur; he is a professional.
To the Filipino intelligentsia, Grace Poe may look like a rank amateur, who is out of her depth in running for the presidency. But her husband is no amateur; he is a professional.
When some politicians and journalists suspect Sen. Chiz Escudero of being the puppeteer behind Grace Poe, they are mistaken. There is a better man at the controls. And he knows his stuff.
Talk about Grace Poe being a Manchurian candidate is not a mere fantasy of people who have seen too many movies.
When you look at the shadow of Neil Llamanzares behind Grace Poe, the nation would be foolhardy not to take a second and careful look.
yenmakabenta@yahoo.com
Group says Duterte faces arrest if he visits US
Written by Mario J. Mallari, Monday, 25 April 2016
PDP-Laban presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will likely be arrested if he travels to the United States, an online foreign investigative group said, citing State Department documents released by Wikileaks.
Group says Duterte faces arrest if he visits US
Written by Mario J. Mallari, Monday, 25 April 2016
PDP-Laban presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will likely be arrested if he travels to the United States, an online foreign investigative group said, citing State Department documents released by Wikileaks.
source: Manila Times
13 June 2016
100 indicators better than GDP
Many people are getting impatient with gross domestic product (GDP) growth data, especially growth rates of 6% or higher, saying these numbers are “irrelevant”, “useless”, “misleading”, and “mean nothing” to their lives. Stronger criticisms of GDP growth numbers include “jobless growth” and “outright lies” that paint a rosy picture of an otherwise thorny and despicable society.
While there are some truths to these sentiments, especially for people who live under dictatorships and harsh political repression, a number of these sentiments are themselves misleading and full of angsts and misdirected anger.
One recent article that got circulated well in social media was published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) blog, “Five indicators better than GDP.” The author cited a study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and listed these five criteria as “better than GDP” and may imply that GDP data can be dispensed with:
1. Good jobs. Employment statistics tell us what proportion of people have jobs. They don’t tell us what proportion of those with jobs are paid too little to afford a decent standard of living, or worry about whether they’ll still have work next month.
2. Well-being. A growing economy is not an end in itself -- it’s a means to improving people’s lives. Few would disagree that the ultimate aim of public policy is well-being; we care about GDP because we assume it means more well-being. So why not also measure well-being directly?
3. Environment. The NEF proposes a national indicator of lifestyle-related carbon emissions, relative to an allocation calculated from global targets for avoiding dangerous levels of climate change.
4. Fairness. Research increasingly shows that high income inequality has negative social consequences, while casting doubt on the idea that it incentivises hard work.
5. Health. The NEF proposes “avoidable deaths” as a simple, easily-understandable measure that captures the quality of health interventions -- not only treatment, but also prevention.
Let us take for the sake of argument that we can dispense with, even throw away, GDP growth data and use those five indicators instead. Then other problems can crop up, like some people will complain, “Why only those five? Why not also include indicators on (6) affordable housing, (7) efficient public transportation, (8) good anti-flooding, (9) more CCT welfare, (10) cheap and stable electricity, (11) cheap nutritious food, (12) free or affordable university education,... (100) fast, free Wi-Fi.”
Thus, a replacement of “irrelevant, useless, misleading, jobless growth...” GDP data can actually result in numerous indicators that can raise more questions and suspicious how they are computed, what factors are included in their computation, for each of those 50 or 100 indicators.
So that WEF article, like many of its predecessor and similar papers, is lousy. Computing the GDP actually involves tons of data from so many sectors and sub-sectors. Whether computing the GDP on the demand side (GDP = C + I + G + [X-M]) or the supply side (GDP = gross value added in Agriculture + Industry + Services), lots of data in each of those factors in the equation are dug, verified, and counter-checked. An overstatement of the numbers last year to project a rosy achievement would mean possible understatement of the actual numbers this year, or further tinkering of the data to sustain the deception.
One problem with this method is that when people continuously torture data, the latter will confess and the real numbers will surface. So through time, various governments and their national statisticians have learned to respect their real data, and if they have to torture it, not too much otherwise the data will confess sooner than later.
Bottom line, GDP growth (or non-growth) data are the result of hundreds or thousands of nuances in each sub-sector of the economy, collating thousands of numbers to produce only two figures, (a) the value of the flow of goods and services in one year, and (b) growth rate over the previous year.
Having established this, let us now check GDP growth numbers of the Philippines compared to its neighbors in the region. I chose the years of each administration in the Philippines (see Table 1).
While there are some truths to these sentiments, especially for people who live under dictatorships and harsh political repression, a number of these sentiments are themselves misleading and full of angsts and misdirected anger.
One recent article that got circulated well in social media was published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) blog, “Five indicators better than GDP.” The author cited a study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and listed these five criteria as “better than GDP” and may imply that GDP data can be dispensed with:
1. Good jobs. Employment statistics tell us what proportion of people have jobs. They don’t tell us what proportion of those with jobs are paid too little to afford a decent standard of living, or worry about whether they’ll still have work next month.
2. Well-being. A growing economy is not an end in itself -- it’s a means to improving people’s lives. Few would disagree that the ultimate aim of public policy is well-being; we care about GDP because we assume it means more well-being. So why not also measure well-being directly?
3. Environment. The NEF proposes a national indicator of lifestyle-related carbon emissions, relative to an allocation calculated from global targets for avoiding dangerous levels of climate change.
4. Fairness. Research increasingly shows that high income inequality has negative social consequences, while casting doubt on the idea that it incentivises hard work.
5. Health. The NEF proposes “avoidable deaths” as a simple, easily-understandable measure that captures the quality of health interventions -- not only treatment, but also prevention.
Let us take for the sake of argument that we can dispense with, even throw away, GDP growth data and use those five indicators instead. Then other problems can crop up, like some people will complain, “Why only those five? Why not also include indicators on (6) affordable housing, (7) efficient public transportation, (8) good anti-flooding, (9) more CCT welfare, (10) cheap and stable electricity, (11) cheap nutritious food, (12) free or affordable university education,... (100) fast, free Wi-Fi.”
Thus, a replacement of “irrelevant, useless, misleading, jobless growth...” GDP data can actually result in numerous indicators that can raise more questions and suspicious how they are computed, what factors are included in their computation, for each of those 50 or 100 indicators.
So that WEF article, like many of its predecessor and similar papers, is lousy. Computing the GDP actually involves tons of data from so many sectors and sub-sectors. Whether computing the GDP on the demand side (GDP = C + I + G + [X-M]) or the supply side (GDP = gross value added in Agriculture + Industry + Services), lots of data in each of those factors in the equation are dug, verified, and counter-checked. An overstatement of the numbers last year to project a rosy achievement would mean possible understatement of the actual numbers this year, or further tinkering of the data to sustain the deception.
One problem with this method is that when people continuously torture data, the latter will confess and the real numbers will surface. So through time, various governments and their national statisticians have learned to respect their real data, and if they have to torture it, not too much otherwise the data will confess sooner than later.
Bottom line, GDP growth (or non-growth) data are the result of hundreds or thousands of nuances in each sub-sector of the economy, collating thousands of numbers to produce only two figures, (a) the value of the flow of goods and services in one year, and (b) growth rate over the previous year.
Having established this, let us now check GDP growth numbers of the Philippines compared to its neighbors in the region. I chose the years of each administration in the Philippines (see Table 1).
Then I got the average GDP growth for the yearly data of these 16 members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), plus Hong Kong and Taiwan as they are neighbors of the Philippines (see Table 2).
The above numbers show the following:
1. President Benigno S. C. Aquino III’s administration has experienced or facilitated the fastest growth of the Philippine economy over the past 3 decades. For his detractors who say that the 6.2% average growth rate was “meaningless”; perhaps an average growth of 2%-3% would have pacified them? Or they would be angrier because we could have grown much faster than 3%?
2. The fastest growing economies in the ASEAN in recent years is actually not the Philippines but Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. But these nations have low economic bases and hence, potential for growth is much higher than countries with bigger economic bases. Would the GDP detractors or skeptics also dismiss the growth achievement of these three countries as “meaningless and irrelevant”?
3. From 1980-1997, the Philippines has the slowest growth rate in the Asia Pacific except Brunei and Japan, earning the ugly label of the “sick man of Asia” for nearly two decades. Would the local GDP bashers consider that fact as “meaningful, relevant” because the Philippines was the laggard?
Readers can make their own interpretations and conclusions of the economic performance of the Philippines and other countries from the table.
High GDP growth almost always create more jobs. If people are jobless even temporarily, there are at least two possible explanations. (a) They simply want to bum around and their rich parents or siblings, etc. can feed them; or (b) they are industrious but have high “reservation wage”, meaning if are offered P20k a month job, they reject because they are waiting for a P25k a month or higher job offer.
High GDP growth expectation also produce high employment and wage expectations. That is why some people who receive P30k a month last year are disappointed that they only get a raise to P31k this year instead of P35k or higher, so when SWS or other surveyors come to ask about their standard of living, they feel bad or poor. And they become one of the GDP skeptics/bashers.
Not that I am a fan of centralized economic planning. I only with to point here that GDP bashing is actually more bashful than the subject that they deride.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the head of Minimal Government Thinkers and a Fellow of SEANET and Stratbase-ADRi.
minimalgovernment@gmail.com
1. President Benigno S. C. Aquino III’s administration has experienced or facilitated the fastest growth of the Philippine economy over the past 3 decades. For his detractors who say that the 6.2% average growth rate was “meaningless”; perhaps an average growth of 2%-3% would have pacified them? Or they would be angrier because we could have grown much faster than 3%?
2. The fastest growing economies in the ASEAN in recent years is actually not the Philippines but Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. But these nations have low economic bases and hence, potential for growth is much higher than countries with bigger economic bases. Would the GDP detractors or skeptics also dismiss the growth achievement of these three countries as “meaningless and irrelevant”?
3. From 1980-1997, the Philippines has the slowest growth rate in the Asia Pacific except Brunei and Japan, earning the ugly label of the “sick man of Asia” for nearly two decades. Would the local GDP bashers consider that fact as “meaningful, relevant” because the Philippines was the laggard?
Readers can make their own interpretations and conclusions of the economic performance of the Philippines and other countries from the table.
High GDP growth almost always create more jobs. If people are jobless even temporarily, there are at least two possible explanations. (a) They simply want to bum around and their rich parents or siblings, etc. can feed them; or (b) they are industrious but have high “reservation wage”, meaning if are offered P20k a month job, they reject because they are waiting for a P25k a month or higher job offer.
High GDP growth expectation also produce high employment and wage expectations. That is why some people who receive P30k a month last year are disappointed that they only get a raise to P31k this year instead of P35k or higher, so when SWS or other surveyors come to ask about their standard of living, they feel bad or poor. And they become one of the GDP skeptics/bashers.
Not that I am a fan of centralized economic planning. I only with to point here that GDP bashing is actually more bashful than the subject that they deride.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the head of Minimal Government Thinkers and a Fellow of SEANET and Stratbase-ADRi.
minimalgovernment@gmail.com
source: Businessworld
20 May 2016
Philippine population tops 100M
THE COUNTRY’S population has breached the 100-million mark.
According to the latest Census of Population, the total number of Filipinos swelled to 100.98 million as of August 2015, up from the 92.34 million when the census was last conducted in 2010.
The latest figures placed annual population growth for the period 2010-2015 at an average of 1.72%, slowing down from the 1.90% average recorded in 2000-2010.
“The 2015 population is higher by 8.64 million compared with the population of 92.34 million in 2010, and by 24.47 million compared with the population of 76.51 million in 2000,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which conducts the census, said.
Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist of the Land Bank of the Philippines, said that the slower rate of population growth is “expected given the country’s declining birth rate.”
Census results showed that only six of the 18 regions had population growth rates that were higher than the national average. These six fast-growers were Central Luzon, CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Central Visayas, Davao, SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City), and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“Compared with previous years, people nowadays tend to marry late and have fewer children,” Mr. Dumalagan said. “In part, this is caused by the increasing educational attainment of Filipinos. Higher education usually leads people to have fewer children so that they could focus more on providing a better quality of life to their offspring.”
CALABARZON remained the most populous with 14.41 million people. Neighboring Metro Manila -- the national capital region -- was still in second place with 12.88 million, followed by Central Luzon’s 11.22 million. These three regions made up 38.1% of the country’s population.
BULACAN, LAGUNA BREACH 3-MILLION MARK
The three most populous provinces were Cavite (3.68 million), Bulacan (3.29 million) and Laguna (3.04 million). Bulacan and Laguna breached the 3-million mark for the first time, with Laguna overtaking Pangasinan, which during the 2010 census round had the third biggest population among provinces.
Pangasinan led the provinces whose warm bodies were above the 2-million mark, with 2.96 million, slightly up from the 2.78 million in the 2010 census round.
Trailing Pangasinan was Cebu, which had a population of 2.94 million, excluding its three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue. Rizal came in second with 2.89 million, followed by Batangas (2.69 million), Negros Occidental excluding Bacolod City (2.5 million), Pampanga excluding Angeles City (2.2 million) and Nueva Ecija (2.15 million).
Completing the millionaires’ club were 17 other provinces, including Camarines Sur in Luzon, Iloilo excluding Iloilo City in Visayas and Bukidnon in Mindanao.
The least populous were the islands of Batanes (17,246), Camiguin (88,478) and Siquijor (95,984).
DAVAO OVERTAKES CALOOCAN
Among highly urbanized cities, Quezon City remained the most populous, housing 2.94 million people, followed by Manila (1.78 million). Davao, whose 1.45-million population in 2010 swelled to 1.63 million in 2015, overtook Caloocan, which now has 1.58 million, up from 1.49 million five year before.
“Rural to urban migration is also quite evident in the survey results, with highly urbanized cities such as Taguig, Makati and Mandaluyong showing higher population growth rates in the 2010-2015 period compared with the previous five-year term,” Mr. Dumalagan said.
According to census results, Taguig posted a 4.32% population growth in 2010-2015 followed, by Mandaluyong’s 3.12%. Makati’s population grew by 1.85%. The three cities, which house financial and commercial hubs, are among the richest local government units (LGUs) in the country.
Mr. Dumalagan said the concentration of people in Metro Manila and its peripheries “might be a cause of concern, especially if the rise in population is not accompanied by a similar increase in the number of jobs available.”
Recent data from the PSA show that labor turnover in Metro Manila slowed to 0.62% in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 3.20% during the previous three-month period. The drop in the turnover rate owed to slower hiring and a slight uptick in job terminations.
“People from the provinces are lured to the cities because of hopes of better opportunities. Unfortunately, some don’t find jobs,” Mr. Dumalagan said.
“Aside from the job aspect, a heavy concentration of people in Metro Manila might also amplify pollution concerns, as more people equals more waste,” he said.
Having said the above, Mr. Dumalagan said a bigger population remains an advantage as a lot of people could potentially contribute to economic growth.
“But population size alone is not the only consideration. We also have to look at the quality of our labor force,” he said.
“In this regard, I believe that the next administration should continue investing in human capital development, especially since the world is now becoming more and more interconnected... [W]e have to continuously improve the quality of our labor force in order for us to stand out from other countries,” he added.
source: Businessworld
According to the latest Census of Population, the total number of Filipinos swelled to 100.98 million as of August 2015, up from the 92.34 million when the census was last conducted in 2010.
The latest figures placed annual population growth for the period 2010-2015 at an average of 1.72%, slowing down from the 1.90% average recorded in 2000-2010.
“The 2015 population is higher by 8.64 million compared with the population of 92.34 million in 2010, and by 24.47 million compared with the population of 76.51 million in 2000,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which conducts the census, said.
Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist of the Land Bank of the Philippines, said that the slower rate of population growth is “expected given the country’s declining birth rate.”
Census results showed that only six of the 18 regions had population growth rates that were higher than the national average. These six fast-growers were Central Luzon, CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Central Visayas, Davao, SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City), and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“Compared with previous years, people nowadays tend to marry late and have fewer children,” Mr. Dumalagan said. “In part, this is caused by the increasing educational attainment of Filipinos. Higher education usually leads people to have fewer children so that they could focus more on providing a better quality of life to their offspring.”
CALABARZON remained the most populous with 14.41 million people. Neighboring Metro Manila -- the national capital region -- was still in second place with 12.88 million, followed by Central Luzon’s 11.22 million. These three regions made up 38.1% of the country’s population.
BULACAN, LAGUNA BREACH 3-MILLION MARK
The three most populous provinces were Cavite (3.68 million), Bulacan (3.29 million) and Laguna (3.04 million). Bulacan and Laguna breached the 3-million mark for the first time, with Laguna overtaking Pangasinan, which during the 2010 census round had the third biggest population among provinces.
Pangasinan led the provinces whose warm bodies were above the 2-million mark, with 2.96 million, slightly up from the 2.78 million in the 2010 census round.
Trailing Pangasinan was Cebu, which had a population of 2.94 million, excluding its three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue. Rizal came in second with 2.89 million, followed by Batangas (2.69 million), Negros Occidental excluding Bacolod City (2.5 million), Pampanga excluding Angeles City (2.2 million) and Nueva Ecija (2.15 million).
Completing the millionaires’ club were 17 other provinces, including Camarines Sur in Luzon, Iloilo excluding Iloilo City in Visayas and Bukidnon in Mindanao.
The least populous were the islands of Batanes (17,246), Camiguin (88,478) and Siquijor (95,984).
DAVAO OVERTAKES CALOOCAN
Among highly urbanized cities, Quezon City remained the most populous, housing 2.94 million people, followed by Manila (1.78 million). Davao, whose 1.45-million population in 2010 swelled to 1.63 million in 2015, overtook Caloocan, which now has 1.58 million, up from 1.49 million five year before.
“Rural to urban migration is also quite evident in the survey results, with highly urbanized cities such as Taguig, Makati and Mandaluyong showing higher population growth rates in the 2010-2015 period compared with the previous five-year term,” Mr. Dumalagan said.
According to census results, Taguig posted a 4.32% population growth in 2010-2015 followed, by Mandaluyong’s 3.12%. Makati’s population grew by 1.85%. The three cities, which house financial and commercial hubs, are among the richest local government units (LGUs) in the country.
Mr. Dumalagan said the concentration of people in Metro Manila and its peripheries “might be a cause of concern, especially if the rise in population is not accompanied by a similar increase in the number of jobs available.”
Recent data from the PSA show that labor turnover in Metro Manila slowed to 0.62% in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 3.20% during the previous three-month period. The drop in the turnover rate owed to slower hiring and a slight uptick in job terminations.
“People from the provinces are lured to the cities because of hopes of better opportunities. Unfortunately, some don’t find jobs,” Mr. Dumalagan said.
“Aside from the job aspect, a heavy concentration of people in Metro Manila might also amplify pollution concerns, as more people equals more waste,” he said.
Having said the above, Mr. Dumalagan said a bigger population remains an advantage as a lot of people could potentially contribute to economic growth.
“But population size alone is not the only consideration. We also have to look at the quality of our labor force,” he said.
“In this regard, I believe that the next administration should continue investing in human capital development, especially since the world is now becoming more and more interconnected... [W]e have to continuously improve the quality of our labor force in order for us to stand out from other countries,” he added.
source: Businessworld
11 May 2016
Property market in Metro Manila seen to stabilize
PROPERTY developers are gearing up for the launch of more real estate projects this year after a contraction was seen in 2015, with the Metro Manila market expected to stabilize after a period of “correction,” real estate advisory firm Colliers Philippines said in a briefing in Makati City on Wednesday.
Julius M. Guevara, head of advisory services at Colliers Philippines, said the total number of licenses to sell issued by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) increased 77% to 85,470 in the first quarter -- a turnaround from the 48% contraction to 48,411 a year ago -- as growth was seen across all segments except for farm lot and industrial.
HLURB now requires developers to start selling a project within a year from obtaining the licenses unlike in the previous years when there were no restrictions on the timing of the launches, Mr. Guevara said.
“This now more indicative of the plans of developers. It means when they get the license, they will pursue the project soon.” Mr. Guevara said.
Last year, the total licenses to sell issued by the HLURB dropped 14.5% to 410,834 from 480,743 in 2014.
The condominium market in Metro Manila exhibited continued growth, with low-cost condominiums surging 181% to 1,365; mid- and high-end condominium rising 18% to 12,805; and commercial condominium inching up 2% to 991 after a two-fold surge to 972 a year ago.
The number of units applied for by developers to comply with the balanced housing unit requirement was a major contributor to the growth, climbing more than four times to 9,104 from 1,772 in the same period last year.
Other segments that registered robust growth included open market housing, up 232% to 11,904; socialized housing, up 81% to 6,816; and economic housing, up 445% to 13,845.
Real estate firms are projected to sell roughly 30,000 units in Metro Manila this year, a decline of 6.25% from the 32,400 units sold in 2015, Mr. Guevara said.
“I think this year, the property market will stabilize then we will see steady growth. The numbers we are seeing is reflective of end-user demand so the launches will continue,” Mr. Guevara said.
The residential market in Metro Manila has been contracting since 2013 after take-up hit a high of 52,500 residential units in 2012, according to data from Colliers.
Land values in the country’s major business districts continued to go up and are projected to grow between 5%-7% over the next 12 months, Colliers said.
On a quarterly basis, land values increased by 0.4% to P502,000 per square meter in Makati, 0.4% to P418,400 per sq.m. in Fort Bonifacio, 4.6% to P123,000 per sq.m. in Alabang and 0.2% to P180,000 per sq.m. in Ortigas.
source: Businessworld
Julius M. Guevara, head of advisory services at Colliers Philippines, said the total number of licenses to sell issued by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) increased 77% to 85,470 in the first quarter -- a turnaround from the 48% contraction to 48,411 a year ago -- as growth was seen across all segments except for farm lot and industrial.
HLURB now requires developers to start selling a project within a year from obtaining the licenses unlike in the previous years when there were no restrictions on the timing of the launches, Mr. Guevara said.
“This now more indicative of the plans of developers. It means when they get the license, they will pursue the project soon.” Mr. Guevara said.
Last year, the total licenses to sell issued by the HLURB dropped 14.5% to 410,834 from 480,743 in 2014.
The condominium market in Metro Manila exhibited continued growth, with low-cost condominiums surging 181% to 1,365; mid- and high-end condominium rising 18% to 12,805; and commercial condominium inching up 2% to 991 after a two-fold surge to 972 a year ago.
The number of units applied for by developers to comply with the balanced housing unit requirement was a major contributor to the growth, climbing more than four times to 9,104 from 1,772 in the same period last year.
Other segments that registered robust growth included open market housing, up 232% to 11,904; socialized housing, up 81% to 6,816; and economic housing, up 445% to 13,845.
Real estate firms are projected to sell roughly 30,000 units in Metro Manila this year, a decline of 6.25% from the 32,400 units sold in 2015, Mr. Guevara said.
“I think this year, the property market will stabilize then we will see steady growth. The numbers we are seeing is reflective of end-user demand so the launches will continue,” Mr. Guevara said.
The residential market in Metro Manila has been contracting since 2013 after take-up hit a high of 52,500 residential units in 2012, according to data from Colliers.
Land values in the country’s major business districts continued to go up and are projected to grow between 5%-7% over the next 12 months, Colliers said.
On a quarterly basis, land values increased by 0.4% to P502,000 per square meter in Makati, 0.4% to P418,400 per sq.m. in Fort Bonifacio, 4.6% to P123,000 per sq.m. in Alabang and 0.2% to P180,000 per sq.m. in Ortigas.
source: Businessworld
03 May 2016
DBM increases fees for govt workers attending seminars
BUDGET Secretary Florencio B. Abad has increased the maximum registration fee to be shouldered by the government for state employees participating in conventions, seminars and other conferences.
Under National Budget Circular 563, the maximum registration fee the government will shoulder was increased to P2,000 per day for each participant, from the previous amount of P1,200.
The registration fee to be shouldered by the government is for “conventions, seminars, conferences, symposia and such other activities conducted by non-governmental organizations or private institutions for a fee, as part of the human resource development program of the government.”
Under the circular, authorized participants are also entitled to travel expenses and allowances for out-of-town conventions.
However, membership fees of government officials and employees in private organizations shall continue to be shouldered by the concerned member and cannot be charged to government funds.
Only institutional membership fees, wherein the government agency itself is the member, may be charged to public funds.
The circular also clarified the types of conventions being covered: “For purposes of this circular, conventions, seminars and the like shall refer to those conducted basically for purposes of sharing, discussing or disseminating ideas or information on the developments in a particular field or fields of interest and/or for common appreciation and resolution of certain issues.”
“It includes, but is not limited to, those conducted by professional organizations or groups of common interest where government employees are members. It excludes those conducted for training purposes where participants are expected to gain or strengthen skills and technical or management expertise in their areas of endeavor,” the circular added.
source: Business Mirror
28 March 2016
‘Use idle public, private lands for socialized housing in NCR’
The joint committees on housing and urban development of Congress have urged the government to use public and private idle lands for socialized housing programs to erase the housing backlog in the National Capital Region (NCR).
This proposal was the initial result of the ongoing National Housing and Urban Development Summit conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Urban Development and the Senate Committee on Urban Planning and Shelter and Resettlement.
Data from the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development showed that there are 584,425 informal settler families (ISFs) in Metro Manila, while the housing backlog is estimated at 5 million units.
Citing data from the Department of Interior and Local Government and Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council, panel chairman Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez of Negros Occidental said 1,234.85-hectare government-owned properties are currently being occupied by ISFs, while 2,185 hectares of public properties are available for housing programs. Benitez added there are also 2,401.72-hectare private lands that are now being occupied by ISFs in the NCR. “We are proposing the construction of medium rise or 4- to 5-story buildings [with estimated 100,000 to 150,000 units],” he said.
Benitez said the proposal is not just for ISFs, but can also be availed by low- and middle-income earners.
He said affordable housing provides a more “cost-effective” solution to address homelessness in the Philippines. “For many decades the housing backlog has been increasing for just only one reason—affordability. People don’t own a house and lot or a housing unit because they cannot afford it,” Benitez said.
Meanwhile, he said the culmination of the National Housing and Urban Development Summit will be held on April 4.
Benitez said more results and recommendations addressing the country’s housing problems will be presented during the event.
“The housing challenge in the Philippines has been largely attributed to the increasing housing backlog, bloating number of informal settler families in the urban centers and the lack of availability of affordable housing unit for majority of the Filipinos from the low- to middle-income segments,” he said.
“All of these not only reflect the widespread poverty in the country but also, the inability of the government to reverse the housing backlog for many decades now,” Benitez added.
source: Business Mirror
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