Thursday Group:

Guianne Alden Nico C. Superable

Nat M. Baylon
Emerson John Belmoro

Editorial:

Trump and PH economy

With the biggest upset in the history of American presidential
elections, economists worldwide are anxious to see what Donald
Trump in the White House will mean to the global economy. For the
Philippines, the negative impact of a Trump presidency has been
pegged in business outsourcing, trade protectionism and
immigration. The biggest concern is in the booming business process
outsourcing (BPO) industry, which now employs 1.2 million Filipinos
and generates more than $20 billion in revenues a year. During the
US election campaign, Trump vowed to bring American jobs back
home and threatened to tax US firms that would outsource jobs.
The protectionist stand of a Trump administration on US outsourcing
could imperil the growth momentum of the Philippine BPO industry,
where 8 of the top 10 BPO companies are US-based, warned Marvin
Fausto, a fund manager at COL Financial and president of IFE
Financial Advisers Inc. But it would take a lot to undo the outsourcing
phenomenon. US companies brought some of their operations
offshore for financial reasons: There is a huge gap between costs
here and in America, which the Trump administration would find
difficult to cover with subsidies from taxpayer money. Besides, Trump
has bigger problems that would need big funding; fixing an aging US
infrastructure system would most likely be his priority, and this alone
could create millions of jobs for Americans.

Reverting to trade protectionism is another fear raised under

President Trump. The tycoon-turned-politician promised during the
campaign an America First policy, and lashed at what he described
as disadvantageous trade agreementsthe North American Free
Trade Agreement (Nafta) and the yet-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific
Partnership. But being critical of the trade pacts does not mean
America would just walk away from these under a Trump presidency.
Simple economic sense says that America will be better off being a
member of trade groups than closing itself from the outside world.
The most that can possibly happen is for America to renegotiate the
Nafta to narrow the gap between what it buys from its neighbors and
what it sells to them. During the campaign, Trumps camp indicated
that what it really wanted was to negotiate fair trade deals that
create American jobs, increase American wages, and reduce
Americas trade deficit.
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On immigration, while Trump vowed to prioritize the jobs, wages and

security of Americans and establish new immigration controls to
boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to Americans
first, he also promised to protect the economic wellbeing of the lawful
immigrants to the United States.
There are other prospective Trump policies that will have an impact
on the Philippines. In the energy sector, Trump promised to make
America energy-independent: Become, and stay, totally
independent of any need to import energy from the Opec
(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cartel or any nations
hostile to our interests. Open onshore and offshore leasing on federal
lands, eliminate moratorium on coal leasing, and open shale energy
deposits. Encourage the use of natural gas and other American
energy resources that will both reduce emissions but also reduce the
price of energy and increase our economic output. The net effect is
that prices of crude oil will remain low. And low crude prices will be

beneficial to the Philippines, which imports more than 90 percent of

its oil requirements.
Thus, despite the fears now gripping the outside world, Trump the
candidate will be different from Trump the president. He said many
things while campaigning to attract voters. It will be different when
hes in the White House. His promised policies during the campaign
will not necessarily be his policies when he takes office in January.

International News:

DFA: No report of Filipino casualties

so far in New Zealand quake
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said it has not
received report of any Filipino casualty in the powerful 7.8 magnitude
quake that struck New Zealand.
In a text message to INQUIRER.net, DFA assistant secretary Charles
Jose said the Philippine Embassy in Wellington continues to monitor
the situation of Filipinos closely.
At least 2 people were confirmed dead following the strong quake
that hit New Zealands South Island on Sunday evening (Manila time),
some 93 kilometers north close to the city of Christchurch. It was also
strongly felt in the capital Wellington.
The quake was followed by a number of aftershocks and prompted
New Zealands Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management
to issue a tsunami warning. RAM

National News:

Sen. Villanueva ordered dismissed

from public service over pork
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the dismissal from
public service of Senator Joel Villanueva for his administrative liability
over the allegedly anomalous use of P10 million from his pork barrel
allocation as a House member.
In a statement on Monday, Morales said the former Cibac
representative was found guilty of grave misconduct, serious
dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.
Villanuevas dismissal stemmed from his indictment for malversation,
graft and falsification of public documents over the allegedly
anomalous disbursement of his P10 million Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) when he was a party-list congressman.
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READ: After NBI complaint, Aquino ally faces Ombudsman

probe over pork scam

Morales said she had ordered the filing of two counts of violation of
Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act
No. 3019), one count for malversation of public funds and
malversation through falsification of public documents against
Villanueva and his co-accused.
Also indicted were former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary
(now Bohol third district representative) Arthur Yap, Villanuevas staff
Ronald Samonte, DA employee Delia Ladera, NABCOR
representatives Alan Javellana, Romulo Relevo, Ma. Julie VillaralvoJohnson, Rhodora Mendoza, and Maria Ninez Guanizo; and Aaron
Foundation Philippines, Inc. (AFPI) President Alfredo Ronquillo.
Villanueva is the son of Jesus is Lord Church founder Bro. Eddie
Villanueva.
Villanueva was appointed Tesda Director General with a Cabinet rank
by then-President Aquino. He served as Citizens Battle Against
Corruption (Cibac) representative from 2001 to 2010. He won as
senator in the 2016 polls.
According to the Ombudsman, the budget department on June 10,
2008, released Villanuevas P10-million PDAF to a bogus NGO to
implement agri-based livelihood projects in Region XI.
Two days later, Villanueva requested Yap to release the fund to
National Agri-business Corporation (NABCOR) as implementing
agency, with the AFPI as NGO-partner.
Yap and Nabcor then entered into a memorandum of agreement on
June 19, 2008.
Villanuevas PDAF was supposedly spent for pechay, radish, sitaw,
okra, hybrid yellow corn seedlings, liquid fertilizers and threshers
from the supplier MJ Rickson Trading Corporation

The items were intended to benefit the residents of the towns of

Pantukan, Nabunturan, Tambongon, Bongabong, Napnapan, Mipangi,
Anislagan and Magsaysay in the Compostela Valley province.
But the transaction was fraught with irregularities, said the
Ombudsman, citing information that the localities were not suitable
for farming as vast portions of land were planted to bananas and
coconuts.
No name in the supposed list of beneficiaries was a registered voter
or a resident of the province, the Ombudsman added.
Local officials also told the Ombudsman that no agri-based livelihood
projects were implemented by AFPI.